November Storm Spawns Two Confirmed Tornadoes in Dakota County

A rare November thunderstorm on Saturday night spawned two weak tornadoes, which touched briefly down in Burnsville and Eagan, according to a National Weather Service storm report.

The first tornado spun up northeast of the intersection of County Road 5 and McAndrews Road in Burnsville around 10:58 p.m., according to weather service officials. The tornado, an "EF0" on the Fujita scale, had maximum wind speeds of 80 mph. As the storm cell tracked northeast, the tornado blew down numerous trees and power lines and bent a stop sign all the way to the ground, the weather service said. It dissipated just southwest of the intersection of Burnsville Parkway and Hwy. 11.

Seven minutes later, another tornado struck near Skyline Drive east of Hwy. 13. This tornado, which had maximum wind speeds of 75 mph, tracked northeast to the Lost Spur Golf Course just south of Interstate 494. The tornado, which garnered an EF0 rating, damaged trees and power lines before losing strength, the weather service said.

The winds knocked out power to a number of Xcel Energy customers, but power had been restored to all but 1,000 users in the area as of 3 p.m. Sunday, according to the Star Tribune .

The storm cell also damaged homes in Inver Grove Heights, Burnsville and Mendota Heights, according to the National Weather Service. At the Lilydale Pool and Yacht Club, strong winds damaged deck furniture and tore off a canopy at the club. The winds also took down large trees near the St. Paul Downtown Airport and left dumpsters scattered in the streets, according to weather service reports.

The unusual severe storm followed record-high temperatures in the upper 60s across the Twin Cities. Temperatures plummeted more than 40 degrees late Saturday and Sunday, as a hard-hitting cold front swept in from the northwest.

Much of Dakota County received roughly a quarter-inch of rain during last night's storm, according to the National Weather Service reports.

Have storm photos that you'd like to share with our readers? Email them to Editor David Henke at david.henke@patch.com.