5 tornadoes confirmed across Dakota County, Ramsey County
St. Paul, Minn. (Fox 9) - The National Weather Service has confirmed 5 tornadoes touched down in the Twin Cities metro Saturday night. More severe weather is in the forecast Sunday night, with a tornado watch until midnight. Track storms live with us at fox9.com/live.
A tornado in Ramsey County had a rating of EF0, with estimated peak winds of 75 mph. NWS meteorologists calculated that it traveled for 3.4 miles, with a path that took it from southeast I-94 and Highway 10, through the Eastview neighborhood in St. Paul, close to Harding High School, before it ended near the Goodrich Golf Course.
Four additional EF-0 tornadoes briefly touched down in Burnsville, Apple Valley, Eagan and West St. Paul in Dakota County earlier Saturday before the storm crossed the river into Ramsey County. Observed wind speeds in Dakota County ranged from 75 to 85 mph.
Damage reports across the Twin Cities
The tornadoes, as well as winds and heavy rain from severe thunderstorms, left behind a lot of storm damage in Twin Cities on Saturday night.
In Eden Prairie, Jan Farmer was at home when the storm came roaring through. Large trees in both her front and back yard were ripped from the earth, and one fell over on top of their neighbor’s trailer.
Thankfully, the trees missed homes in their neighborhood. "If you were taking a tree down, you wouldn’t have been able to lay it down as nicely as Mother Nature did," Farmer said..
Not far away in Apple Valley, a home in the Cedar Knolls Mobile Home Park wasn’t as lucky, as a tree there appeared to have left a hole in its roof.
The storm toppled many trees in the area, sending another into the side of the Cedar Valley Apartments.
As a National Weather Service crew surveyed the damage, resident Gwen Johnson looked on in shock.
"I’ve never in my life in Minnesota seen what looked like a solid wall move through," Johnson said. "That’s the closest to what I think was a tornado I’ve ever been… and it was pretty scary."