More Memorial Day Tornadoes Confirmed in Southeast Minnesota

We heard yesterday there were three confirmed tornadoes in southeast Minnesota and north Iowa Monday, but it turns out there were even more than that.

When I was 7 years old, there was a tornado outbreak that tore through the Wausau area, my hometown in central Wisconsin. In fact, had Rib Mountain itself not blocked one of the twisters, it would have likely jumped the Wisconsin River and headed right up my street.

My dad was on duty as a police officer that day, and my mom and brother and I were out running errands when the warning was issued. I remember dad quickly rushing us inside and down to the basement when we got home-- and ever since I've had a healthy fear of respect for these powerful and unpredictable storms!

And, as it turns out, there were way more tornadoes in our neck of the woods on Memorial Day than we first thought. The National Weather Service in La Crosse said yesterday there were now SIX tornadoes confirmed in our area Monday: The three larger twisters that hit north Iowa near Charles City and Lime Springs with another near Greenleafton southwest of Preston. But there were also three other smaller touchdowns now confirmed in parts of Fillmore County as well.

They also noted on their Twitter page that 2019 has been an abnormally-active season for tornadoes, saying, "Our office only averages 16 tornado warnings a year but we've already issued 11 in 2019. In addition, we've only issued 6 severe thunderstorm warnings. Odd to have nearly twice the number of tornado warnings."

Yeah. That's enough of the tornadoes for me. Yikes!

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