Weak Tornado Briefly Touches Down In Faribault County
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It was brief and it was weak, but the National Weather Service says that a tornado touched down in Faribault County Friday afternoon.
The touchdown happened just east of Minnesota Lake at about 2:40 p.m.
WCCO's director of meteorology Mike Augustyniak said that this was a landspout-type tornado. They generally do not cause damage.
Brief tornado seen earlier this afternoon just south of Minnesota Lake, MN. Photo courtesy of LaShonda Ertman. #Tornado #MNwx pic.twitter.com/y0JTGNKR7L
— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) May 25, 2018
"Landspouts are narrow, rope-like condensation funnels that form while the thunderstorm cloud is still growing and there is no rotating updraft," Augustyniak said. "The spinning motion originates near the ground, as opposed to aloft. These can be thought of as the 'land-based' version of waterspouts."
Augustyniak said any threats associated with Friday's storms yet to come will be mainly wind gusts up to 60 mph and up to quarter-sized hail, similar to Thursday's round of storms.