Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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the tornado that caused major damage in the southern Minnesota

 community of Hartland on Wednesday night was an EF-2, with estimated peak wind speeds of 115 mph.

In updates posted Friday, the Weather Service said the Hartland tornado was one of at least seven to touch down in the state Wednesday — the first tornadoes recorded in Minnesota in the month of December.

While there were no reports of injuries or deaths from the seven confirmed tornadoes, a man was killed by a falling tree as severe storms moved through the Rochester area on Wednesday night.

And utility crews continued working Friday to restore power to several thousand homes and businesses.

The strongest of the five confirmed tornadoes in Minnesota was the one that hit Hartland at about 7:10 p.m. Wednesday.

According to the Weather Service storm survey, the tornado touched down about a mile southwest of the city and tracked northeast. It had a peak width of about 55 yards and was on the ground for just over 2 miles, over the span of about 3 minutes.

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"The damage in the southern residential part of town was mainly tree and roof damage," the storm survey said. "As the tornado tracked into the center of town, more significant damage was observed to buildings along Broadway Street," including major damage to a couple of commercial structures.

Wednesday's other confirmed tornadoes included:

The Weather Service also reported at least five tornadoes touched down in northeast Iowa on Wednesday night and at least four in western Wisconsin.

Xcel Energy reported about 2,300 homes and businesses remained without power in its Minnesota and western Wisconsin service areas as of early Friday afternoon. Nearly all had power restored by Saturday afternoon. 

People's Energy Cooperative said crews late Friday afternoon repaired a large outage affecting more than 1,000 customers in the Stewartville area south of Rochester. 

The city of Stewartville had opened a shelter Thursday night for people needing a warm place to stay as temperatures dropped into the teens.

Andrew Krueger

Author

The National Weather Service says the tornado that caused major damage in the southern Minnesota community of Hartland on Wednesday night was an EF-2, with estimated peak wind speeds of 115 mph. It was one of at least seven tornadoes to hit the state.

an RV on its side among post-storm debris

Tim Evans for MPR News

A large stump remains after a tree snapped during a severe storm

An employee helps to clean up a damaged building 

Weather Service confirms at least seven tornadoes touched down in Minnesota

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