Why does Minnesota have so many tornadoes?

Answer 1

Minnesota does not have as many tornadoes as a Tornado Alley state, but it still has a relatively high rate because it is near Tornado Alley, and so it is subject to some of the same collisions of cool, dry Canadian air with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, generating strong thunderstorms. An inversion cap holds back storm development, until the storms break through and develop explosively, becoming extremely powerful. Differences in wind speed and direction at different altitudes give these storms the rotation needed to produce tornadoes.