Tornado Warning Issued for Martin and Watonwan Counties in Minnesota

Source: NOAA · South Central Minnesota

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on May 27, 2026, 2 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).

Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.

A Tornado Warning is in effect for northwestern Martin County and southwestern Watonwan County until 8:30 PM CDT on May 17, 2026.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Tornado Warning
Affected area
South Central Minnesota
Issued
May 27, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

Tornado warnings are short-window notices for the named area. The issuing office is the authority on whether the warning remains active or has been replaced.

Record status: historical. It was issued 2 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in South Central Minnesota.

Alert Details

Tornado Warning issued by NWS Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN. Effective from 2026-05-17T19:40:00-05:00 until 2026-05-17T20:30:00-05:00. Severity: Extreme. Certainty: Observed. Urgency: Immediate. Source: Radar indicated rotation.

Affected Areas

Northwestern Martin County in south central Minnesota and southwestern Watonwan County in south central Minnesota. The storm was located 10 miles west of Trimont (24 miles west of Fairmont) moving northeast at 25 mph. This tornado will be near St. James around 825 PM CDT. Other locations impacted include Odin, Ormsby and Echols.

What You Should Do

Move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a well-built building away from windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.

Expected Conditions

A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado. Hazard: Tornado. Impact: Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.

Timeline

Alert effective May 17 at 7:40 PM CDT until May 17 at 8:30 PM CDT.

Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗

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Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this NWS weather alert.

What is this NWS weather alert about?
A Tornado Warning is in effect for northwestern Martin County and southwestern Watonwan County until 8:30 PM CDT on May 17, 2026.
Which agency issued this alert?
This alert was issued by NOAA. The original notice is available at the source link at the bottom of this article.
How severe is this alert?
This alert is classified as "high" severity. Take precautions and monitor for updates.
What area is affected?
This alert affects South Central Minnesota. Check with NOAA for the most current geographic scope.
Where can I find more Weather Alerts updates?
Browse the full Weather Alerts feed on Areazine at areazine.com/weather/ for the latest updates from NOAA and other agencies.