Erin Strengthens to a Hurricane; Heavy Rainfall Possible in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the Upper Midwest, South Texas

Hurricane Erin may bring isolated flash and urban flooding, landslides or mudslides, and possible tropical storm conditions to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands this weekend. Scattered thunderstorms and heavy rainfall may bring areas of flooding this weekend over the Upper Midwest. A tropical disturbance will bring locally heavy rain and mainly urban flash flooding to far southern Texas. Read More >

Overview

A pronounced cold front sagged south of Canada, colliding with a warm and humid air mass across central Minnesota on August 3, 2024. Surface temperatures reached the upper 80s/lower 90s with dew points in the low to mid 70s. This created an unstable environment, featuring instability exceeding 4000-5000 J/kg of MLCAPE and steep mid-level lapse rates between 8.0-9.0°C/km.

A pair of strong supercells formed along the front over central Minnesota during the late afternoon and travelled south-southeast through the evening. Initial storms produced very large hail up to 3 inches in diameter, with sporadic reports of wind damage. An EF-1 tornado impacted Melrose, MN as the supercells travelled through Stearns County.

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Tornado
Wind & Hail
Radar
Storm Reports

Tornado

Tornado - Melrose, MN
Stearns County

Date	8/03/2024
Time (Local)	8:11-8:20 PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	95 MPH
Path Length	5.4 mi
Injuries/Deaths	None Reported
Summary: The tornado touched down on the northwest corner of Melrose and travelled south-southeast, dissipating southeast of Black Oak Lake. Within Melrose, the tornado destroyed a large metal shed at a business and caused significant damage to homes across the street from the business. It crossed Interstate 94 and hit a golf course where it took down over 200 trees. After that, more houses were hit, including one that had its roof partially removed. Another farm had a machine shed completely destroyed. Outside of Melrose, several more farms were hit, badly damaging a turkey barn and removing portions of a metal roof at several more farm outbuildings. Storm damage was produced by the tornado itself, strong inflow, and a strong rear flank downdraft.

Track Map

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Northwest Melrose	Northwest Melrose	Southern Melrose	Melrose Golf Course

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Wind & Hail:

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Wind

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Hail

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Radar

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Radar at 8:11 PM. The tornado touched down at the location of the red square.	Caption	Caption	Caption

Storm Reports

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Erin Strengthens to a Hurricane; Heavy Rainfall Possible in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the Upper Midwest, South Texas

Tornado, Wind and Hail in Minnesota August 3rd