A tornado touched down about seven miles northeast of Artichoke, Minnesota, around 7:45 p.m. Friday, as a line of severe storms swept across the state and left trained spotters scrambling to document the rare late-season twister. Minneapolis-based storm spotter Alex Mohinani captured photos showing both the funnel and what he identified as the rotating mesocyclone feeding it, offering a rare visual record of the storm's structure as it churned through farmland near Artichoke.
The event was reported as a tornado, with NOAA reporting that it reportedly touched down, as reported by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, in a report about Mohinani's photos. The outlet's report noted that severe weather was observed across Minnesota that evening, with parts of Rock County and Cass County placed under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m. Friday. The National Weather Service separately issued a tornado warning for southern Stevens County through 8:45 p.m., urging residents to take shelter immediately as the system tracked eastward, according to the Hindustan Times.
Hail and Downed Lines Trail the Storm's Path
Golf-ball-sized hail was reported during the storm. The storm was also associated with reports of damage along the tornado's path. Local reports also noted power pole and line damage near the tornado's path, though official damage assessments and enhanced Fujita ratings from National Weather Service survey teams remain pending, according to reporting on the Stevens County tornado.
Artichoke Township itself is about as rural as Minnesota gets — an agricultural community in Big Stone County.
What a Mesocyclone Tells Forecasters
The rotating structure Mohinani photographed and identified as a mesocyclone is a storm-scale rotating updraft typically 2 to 6 miles in diameter that serves as the engine behind tornadoes and large hail in supercell thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service's official glossary definition. Forecasters typically detect these rotating updrafts on Doppler radar velocity products before a visible funnel ever forms, giving warning teams a critical head start on issuing alerts like the one covering southern Stevens County Friday night.
A Late-Season Twister in a Turbulent Year
September tornadoes are something of an outlier in Minnesota, where the state averages 46 twisters a year but sees the vast majority between May and August, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The same agency notes that annual totals can vary from year to year.
Friday's storm arrives as the year continues. Then in August, severe summer weather was reported in Minnesota.
The article does not provide a verified count of Minnesota's billion-dollar disasters or a breakdown by event type. Whether Friday's Artichoke tornado warrants an official rating will depend on the ground survey that meteorologists have yet to complete.
