Lakeville Minnesota - Tornadoes? How's The City?

[Andrew in Minnesota]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Iowa is wayyy higher risk than northern MN for strong Tornados but again, that's still low in the big scheme of things.

100% nailed it in your last 2 sentences.

I work with this stuff professionally I'm familiar with the NOAA weather database that goes back decades so just an fyi to those reading this.

Originally Posted by scatteredthunder

You keep saying northern MN, but Lakeville isn't considered northern, is it?

Originally Posted by Mathguy

In the models I look at, yeah but those are based on risk not miles north and south.

I'll refrain from using that and instead just say Zone 2.

No, you're not looking at any model that considers Lakeville to be in - and I quote you - 'Northern MN'. They don't exist. Lakeville is in southern Minnesota on a literal basis; colloquially it would be either 'Southern Minnesota' or 'Twin Cities' - but certainly not 'Northern MN'.

At any rate, FEMA specifically assesses the tornado risk to Dakota County (where Lakeville is located) and Polk County (where Des Moines is located) the same: RELATIVELY HIGH.

https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map [select Tornado, drop-down at the upper left]

So apparently, Mr. I'm-a-professional-so-there!, your familiarity with the comparative tornado risks of southern Minnesota and central Iowa is about as sound as your understanding of where Lakeville is located in Minnesota.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by jennifat

As far as Lakeville goes, it's a fairly generic outer-ring suburb. Nothing special. The housing stock is mostly beige 80s/90s split-levels on cul-de-sacs.

Fairly generic? Possibly. But we actually lived in Lakeville for a year and did think it was special. A portion of the housing stock is as this poster described, but a large percentage of homes are well kept and very charming in their settings regardless of their age/content. The Lakeville area is gorgeous with numerous, big parks and a handful of very nice lakes such as Marion and Orchard. The shopping/dining is all we needed to be next door to and there were countless other options 10 to 15 minutes away. The schools are among the best in the state and boast some of the best athletic programs as well. As someone else mentioned you are within easy, convenient driving distance to things like MOA, the airport, Mystic Lake/Valley Fair/Canterbury, the MN zoo and also have lickety split access to both of the cities with the I-35 split being right on your doorstep. We would frequently visit the river bluff areas from Red Wing down to La Crosse and Lakeville was a great base point for that. The only "downside" to Lakeville to me is it doesn't boast much of a downtown/city center. Not surprisingly, Lakeville has become pricey and we ended up moving to the north side of town to get better bang for our housing buck, but have nothing but fond memories of our year there and would not hesitate for a second to recommend it, especially for families.

Lakeville is still the Midwest, so the tornado threat exists, but it's nowhere near as elevated as in western and far southern MN. Those are areas that begin to approach the traditional Tornado Alley.

[PullMyFinger]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Fairly generic? Possibly. But we actually lived in Lakeville for a year and did think it was special. A portion of the housing stock is as this poster described, but a large percentage of homes are well kept and very charming in their settings regardless of their age/content. The Lakeville area is gorgeous with numerous, big parks and a handful of very nice lakes such as Marion and Orchard. The shopping/dining is all we needed to be next door to and there were countless other options 10 to 15 minutes away. The schools are among the best in the state and boast some of the best athletic programs as well. As someone else mentioned you are within easy, convenient driving distance to things like MOA, the airport, Mystic Lake/Valley Fair/Canterbury, the MN zoo and also have lickety split access to both of the cities with the I-35 split being right on your doorstep. We would frequently visit the river bluff areas from Red Wing down to La Crosse and Lakeville was a great base point for that. The only "downside" to Lakeville to me is it doesn't boast much of a downtown/city center. Not surprisingly, Lakeville has become pricey and we ended up moving to the north side of town to get better bang for our housing buck, but have nothing but fond memories of our year there and would not hesitate for a second to recommend it, especially for families.

Lakeville is still the Midwest, so the tornado threat exists, but it's nowhere near as elevated as in western and far southern MN. Those are areas that begin to approach the traditional Tornado Alley.

Lakeville is impressive. The climate has not been cooperating lately but in a normal winter they have 27 outdoor hockey rinks they resurface with an outdoor Zamboni every morning.