Strong thunderstorms developed over east central Minnesota and moved to the east and northeast during the early afternoon of May 23. The storms quickly became severe over the western Twin Cities, dropping large hail and producing damaging winds over especially Plymouth and Brooklyn Park. The largest hail observed was baseball sized hail in Brooklyn Park. As the storms moved across the Twin Cities they formed a nearly solid line of storms from just east of the Twin Cities into southeast Minnesota.
The first confirmed tornado for 2007 touched down at 4:10pm 5 miles southeast of Dennison in Goodhue County. It was a weak tornado and mainly damaged trees. There was another unconfirmed report of a tornado fifteen minutes later 2 miles SE of Wanamingo in Goodhue County.
While these storms were destructive they brought some badly needed rain to eastern Minnesota.
Listed below is a public information statement about the storms courtesy the Chanhassen National Weather Service.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 731 PM CDT WED MAY 23 2007 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 1155 AM HAIL NEW ULM 44.31N 94.46W 05/23/2007 M0.75 INCH BROWN MN TRAINED SPOTTER 0205 PM TSTM WND DMG WAYZATA 44.97N 93.51W 05/23/2007 HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER 1 FT DIAMETER TREE BRANCHES DOWN. 1/4 INCH HAIL. 0210 PM HAIL PLYMOUTH 45.02N 93.46W 05/23/2007 E0.88 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER 0210 PM TSTM WND DMG PLYMOUTH 45.02N 93.46W 05/23/2007 HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER SEMI TRAILOR TIPPED OVER IN PLYMOUTH AT HIGHWAY 55 AND 494. SPOTTER SAID HE WITNESSED A DOWNBURST. 0210 PM TSTM WND DMG PLYMOUTH 45.02N 93.46W 05/23/2007 HENNEPIN MN EMERGENCY MNGR DAMAGE TO ROOF OF COMMERCIAL BUILDING ON BOONE AVE N. TREES IN NEARBY VICINITY UP TO ONE FOOT DIAMETER WERE DOWNED OR BLOW OVER. TIME WAS ESIMATED. 0215 PM TSTM WND DMG PLYMOUTH 45.02N 93.46W 05/23/2007 HENNEPIN MN AMATEUR RADIO CO RD 9 EAST OF 494. POWER LINES DOWN. 0215 PM HAIL MINNETONKA 44.91N 93.50W 05/23/2007 E1.00 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER BROKEN CAR WINDOWS. 1 TO 2 INCH BRANCHES DOWN. 0215 PM HAIL PLYMOUTH 45.02N 93.46W 05/23/2007 E1.00 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER 1 MILE EAST OF HIGHWAY 55 AND 494. 0215 PM HAIL CRYSTAL 45.04N 93.36W 05/23/2007 E2.00 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER MAINLY 1 TO 1.5 INCH STONES. BIGGEST HAIL EGG SIZED. 0225 PM HAIL BROOKLYN PARK 45.11N 93.35W 05/23/2007 E2.75 INCH HENNEPIN MN PUBLIC BASEBALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED ALONG WITH UNKNOWN WIND DAMAGE AT INTERSECTION OF SCHMITT LAKE ROAD AND HIGHWAY 169. ALSO HALF DOLLAR TO PING PONG SIZED HAIL REPORTED NEAR 694 AND 85TH AVENUE. 0225 PM HAIL BROOKLYN PARK 45.11N 93.35W 05/23/2007 E1.00 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER AT HIGHWAY 169 AND HIGHWAY 81. 0225 PM TSTM WND DMG BROOKLYN PARK 45.11N 93.35W 05/23/2007 HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER TREE LIMBS DOWN 0225 PM HAIL BROOKLYN PARK 45.11N 93.35W 05/23/2007 E1.75 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER 0226 PM HAIL BROOKLYN PARK 45.11N 93.35W 05/23/2007 M2.50 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER MEASURED AT INTERSECTION OF 73RD AND ZANE. 0230 PM TSTM WND GST ST PAUL 44.95N 93.10W 05/23/2007 M53.00 MPH RAMSEY MN TRAINED SPOTTER MEASURED IN HIGHLAND PARK. 0230 PM HAIL BROOKLYN PARK 45.11N 93.35W 05/23/2007 E0.88 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER NEAR ZANE AND CO RD 30 0230 PM HAIL CRYSTAL 45.04N 93.36W 05/23/2007 E1.75 INCH HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER NEAR CRYSTAL AIRPORT 0236 PM HAIL SPRING LAKE PARK 45.12N 93.25W 05/23/2007 E1.00 INCH ANOKA MN TRAINED SPOTTER 0310 PM HAIL 2 E FOREST LAKE 45.28N 92.94W 05/23/2007 E0.75 INCH WASHINGTON MN TRAINED SPOTTER AT MANNING AVENUE AND HIGHWAY 97 0400 PM TSTM WND DMG BALSAM LAKE 45.46N 92.45W 05/23/2007 POLK WI TRAINED SPOTTER POWER LINES DOWN AT INTERSECTION OF HWY 47 AND 180TH. POWER LINES ALSO DOWN AT 190TH AVE AND 136TH ST. TIME WAS ESTIMATED. 0400 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 NNE BALSAM LAKE 45.51N 92.42W 05/23/2007 POLK WI TRAINED SPOTTER TREE DOWN ON 200TH STREET. 0425 PM TORNADO 2 SE WANAMINGO 44.28N 92.76W 05/23/2007 GOODHUE MN PUBLIC UNCONFIRMED PUBLIC REPORT OF WEAK TORNADO PICKING UP DUST WHILE CROSSING OPEN FIELD 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WANAMINGO. RELAYED BY COUNTY OFFICIALS. 0504 PM TSTM WND DMG HAMMOND 44.97N 92.44W 05/23/2007 ST. CROIX WI TRAINED SPOTTER 3-5 INCH BRANCHES DOWN. MEASURED WIND GUST OF 46MPH. 0520 PM HAIL HOLLANDALE 43.76N 93.21W 05/23/2007 M0.75 INCH FREEBORN MN LAW ENFORCEMENT 0605 PM TSTM WND GST 6 N WEYERHAEUSER 45.51N 91.41W 05/23/2007 E58.00 MPH RUSK WI LAW ENFORCEMENT NUMEROUS SMALL TREES AND ONE INCH TREE LIMBS SEVERED. 0659 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 2 S BLUE EARTH 43.61N 94.10W 05/23/2007 FARIBAULT MN PUBLIC REPORTED BY COUNTY DISPATCH. 0722 PM TORNADO 4 S EAU CLAIRE 44.76N 91.49W 05/23/2007 EAU CLAIRE WI PUBLIC REPORTED BY RAINFALL OBSERVER C1. TORNADO OCCURRED NEAR CEDAR ROAD AND LOWES CREEK.