Two Tornadoes Confirmed Just West of Mankato
Lake Crystal, MN (KROC-AM News) - Survey teams from the National Weather Service have confirmed two tornado touchdowns in an area just west of Mankato last night.
The twisters hit while a system of severe storms moved across southern Minnesota. The first tornado, rated as a weak EF-0 storm with 70-75 mph winds, was on the ground for about 1.3 miles in an area near the town of Courtland in Nicollet County around 9:40 p.m. The National Weather Service says the second tornado was a modestly stronger EF-1 twister with 90-95 mph winds that was on the ground for 2.7 miles near Lake Crystal around 10:30 p.m.
No injuries or significant property damage was reported from either tornado, although the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department reported that hundreds of acres of crops were flattened by the storm cell that produce the tornado outside Lake Crystal and there was some damage to farm buildings that was blamed on straight-line winds in Nicollet County.