June 21st, 2009 - Tornado Alden, MN

Peggy and I picked up Brad Nelson, MarLynn Nelson, and Scott Schneweis (METRO magazine reporter) at 3pm and headed SW on Hwy-169. We dropped straight down 169 to get on the warm front and watched a couple cells go up near the IA/MN border with a nice low wall cloud. We followed the cell furthest south for a bit, watched it rotate and form a small needle funnel, only to die quickly as the warm front lifted. We decided to turn around and head North back into Southern MN on the now tornado warned cells (that we left behind earlier) near Alden, MN. As we approached and positioned into the meso area, we witnessed very low wall clouds and a few funnels. As one funnel develped just to our North, a new funnel developed under the updraft immediately to our SE. This funnel persisted for a few minutes as we got closer. It touched down for 1-2 minutes in the field outside of Alden, Mn. After it roped out we continued to follow the cell but it quickly got too dark to see much beyond a couple low wall clouds. Next came a delicious Steak Dinner at Timberlodge (and one shrimp meal)! We were home by midnight! Good chase day. And luckily the tornado was as peaceful as a tornado can be. No damage or injuries from the touchdown we witnessed. Return to Home Page

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