2026-04-13 REPORTS: KS/MO/MN

[Mike Smith]

As there is a threat for the major tornado outbreak in the Upper Midwest, I thought I would start an informational thread of this evening's storms.

Ottawa, Kansas: Damage is "heavy" in the south half of the city and east into Franklin County. It is bad enough that all schools are closed tomorrow (Tuesday). Power is out in the entire town.

Hillsdale, Kansas: Damage is heavy and there was just a report (10:37pm) of "ambulances leaving the area." There was a report of a 81 mph gust just northeast of Hillsdale. 10:41pm ADDITION: A mobile home park was hit. The people of the park were in their park's shelter. At least one mobile home was thrown into a lake. NO INJURIES.

Mound City, Kansas: There are varying reports of damage in the Mound City area but they are vague at this point.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Long story short, I marathon drove from Wichita (after wrapping up the Storm Chaser Coaching Founders' Tour in OKC Sunday evening, with two nice supercells in Kansas on Thursday the 9th and Saturday the 11th, but no definitive tornadoes although we think the Saturday storm produced one while we were on it); not really planning to chase until after I got up Monday morning and saw the 10%+CIG1 contour was on the IA-MN border, rather than further north as implied by Sunday's Day-2 outlooks.

I made Albert Lea shortly before 5 PM and had a bit of time to evaluate things. There was an initial tornado-warned supercell that had looked good on reflectivity for a while, but it was out of reach and already beginning to look rather messy close to the Mississippi River. I monitored new development off to the west and picked out a promising-looking cell that I calculated I could intercept somewhere near Truman in a little over an hour. In fact, it went severe-warned just as I was departing.

I exited I-90 at 260th Ave. and passed through the little town of Granada, MN. A rapidly organizing wall cloud was visually apparent and I pulled off to enjoy the show:



Side notes, this is my first Minnesota tornado and my first April tornado. During the truncated bowl phase it rather resembled the Palmer-Gilmore City, IA tornado of four years and a day prior, which I was in the general vicinity of but missed by being dumb.

 

[sdienst]

I was on the Iowa tornado like many others. Incredible storm!