National Weather Service confirms first December tornadoes in Minnesota history!

December 17, 2021

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — At least five people died as a powerful and extremely unusual storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest amid unseasonably warm temperatures, spawning hurricane-force winds and possible tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

In southeastern Minnesota, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Lt. Lee Rossman said a 65-year-old man was killed Wednesday night when a 40-foot tree blew onto him outside his home.

At least two tornadoes were confirmed in southern Minnesota on Wednesday, the state’s first twisters on record in December.

The small community of Hartland, Minnesota, might have been the hardest hit, with a reported 35 to 40 homes sustaining minor damage and a few businesses severely damaged, Freeborn County Emergency Management Director Rich Hall said.

Winds reached at least 110 mph in Hartland, the National Weather Service said.