Severe storms ripped through the Twin Cities Saturday night, August 27th prompting the issuance of a few tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings across the region. Damage consistent with a possible tornado was reported across Burnsville, Apple Valley, Eagan, and West St Paul. The National Weather Service conducted storm surveys Sunday afternoon and were able to confirm four separate EF-0 tornadoes occurred between Burnsville, MN, and West St Paul, MN. These tornadoes had max wind speeds between 75-85 mph.

Burnsville, MN Tornado

The first tornado occurred around the south side of Crystal Lake and snapped multiple trees near Crystal Lake Beach.

Apple Valley Tornado

The Apple Valley tornado occurred near Cedar and 127th St, uprooting several large trees and calling structure damage to several structures from trees falling on them.

Eagan Tornado

The Eagan tornado occurred in the area of Duckwood Drive and Lexington Avenue and resulted in a concentrated area of tree damage.

West St Paul Tornado

The West St Paul tornado occurred in an area north of Thompson Avenue to just west of Highway 52. Across this area, the National Weather Service reports several large trees snapped or uprooted.

These tornadoes occurred as a line of storms worked across the Twin Cities Saturday evening and are often called QLCS tornadoes. A QLCS tornado occurs when a Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) works across a region, and little notches/eddies form embedded in/along the line. Where these notches occur, areas of rotation can develop, which could cause a brief tornado to spin up. QLCS tornadoes can be hard to forecast and warn for, as they can spin up and dissipate quickly. They can also be very hard to spot from a storm chaser or storm spotter perspective as they are often rain-wrapped. These are generally weak tornadoes, though there have been a few instances when stronger QLCS tornadoes have formed, including an EF-3 that occurred in El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 26, 2019.

QLCS tornadoes in the Twin Cities region aren’t new, with an unrated tornado forming in Burnsville, MN, on September 17, 2021, when a QLCS worked through the region.