PRESTON, Minn. – A tornado tracked through Preston, population 1,300, on Wednesday night and damaged cars and sheds and snapped trees. Neither the Branding Iron supper club nor the new Veterans Home, both hilltop landmarks, were in the path. Also spared was the Fillmore County courthouse at 101 Fillmore Street East, a couple blocks from the tornado’s swath. A National Weather service survey team that visited the site concluded that the tornado alighted on the North End, on the County Road 17 slope down into town near Farmers Street Northwest, and headed southeast. It abruptly turned straight south just beyond U.S. Highway 52, then proceeded through town and over State Road 12 a couple blocks from the North Branch of the Root River, where it disintegrated. The path mostly was a little short of a football field in width. There were no injuries.
Earlier: 2021 Tornado Alley: Sumner touchdown
CAPTION Peak estimated at 80 mph. Length: 0.5 miles. Maximum width: 40 yards. 7:43 to 7:44 p.m. The blue line tracks the southerly path. Image: National Weather Service