One Death, Several Injuries After Tornado Strikes Otter Tail County

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINN. – Otter Tail County Sheriff Barry Fitzgibbons says one person is dead and two people were injured after a tornado struck near Dalton around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The man killed was working in a shop when the twister hit.

The conditions of those injured is not known.

Last night, the sheriff’s emergency operations team completed searching a 6-to-9 mile area around Dalton and there were no reports of anyone missing.

Carl Jones, a National Weather Service Meteorologist in Grand Forks, says a super-cell that quickly developed in far southwestern Otter Tail county produced a large tornado beginning around 6 miles east-southeast of Dalton and ended six miles southwest of Dalton.

Jones says the tornado is believed to be in at least an EF-3 category, with winds of 136 to 165 mph and was on the ground for as long as 30 minutes.

Three farmsteads were hit by the twister.

The National Weather Service has a survey team in the damage area again today, assessing the damage and reconstructing the tornado path.