A wide line of severe thunderstorms ripped across northern Minnesota early Thursday morning, leaving thousands in its wake without power. The storms started in North Dakota and made their way across the state, cutting a wide swath of damage, said Mike Stewart, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth. After hitting the Duluth area, the storms continued on through northwest Wisconsin and onto the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Duluth area was hit especially hard, Stewart said, with two-thirds of the population losing power. “It was a long-lived, damaging group of storms,” he said. “Lots of trees down, power lines down.” Thankfully, the NWS could see the storms coming and was expecting them, Stewart said. Because of that, the service was able to issue severe weather warnings when it approached the area. “It was inevitable. When, not if,” Stewart said. Across northern Minnesota, the number of residents who lost power in the sweltering heat was staggering. In the Bemidji and Brainerd area, for example, more than 20,000 people lost power and although they were coming back online during the day. Almost all of the city of Duluth was without power, too. In the Brainerd area, a spokesperson said some could be without power until Saturday. The storm hit about 1 a.m. Thursday in Bemidji, and the National Weather Service's warning forecast winds of up to 80 miles per hour for southern Beltrami County, according to the county's Emergency Management department. By 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Muller said county, city and township crews were still working to clear roadways to make sure emergency vehicles could get through. “We’re going to be working on this into the afternoon and there will be tree clearing all the way through the weekend,” Muller said. “Based on the assessments and reports, the Bemidji area was the worst hit in Beltrami County.” Winds close to 80 mph in Bemidji During the storm, Bill Barrett, a meteorologist technician with the weather service in Grand Forks, said wind gust measurements ranged from 60 miles per hour at the Bemidji Regional Airport to 80 miles per hour at the Bemidji Department of Natural Resources office. “I’ve been here for 14 years, I would have to pen this year, right now, as above average,” Barrett said regarding this summer’s storm activity. “The last two years were a little below average, where this year is more. It’s not the absolute max, but this is trending higher than what we expected.” No injuries have been reported as a result of the storm as Thursday evening. Several buildings of Sanford Bemidji Medical Center in Bemidji sustained some damage, but operations were up and running normally by noon, the organization said in a release. Patients with canceled appointments were contacted directly. Some customers of Beltrami Electric Cooperative and Otter Tail Power Co. were still without electricity late Thursday. Bemidji Regional Airport also felt the effects of storm damage Thursday. Tracie Walter, Bemidji Aviation vice president, said three single engine aircraft at the airport sustained damage after flipping over. “It takes a large storm to do this kind of damage,” Walter said. Itasca Park closed The storm reached beyond Bemidji and Beltrami County as it moved east. There was a massive power outage at Itasca State Park near Park Rapids, which caused the park to be closed indefinitely, according to Minnesota's DNR website. The storms caused all lodging units to lose power, including park phones. And the storm hit the region just as one of the summer’s biggest events started. Wednesday night was the opening night for the Moondance Jam festival near Walker, Minn. Bernie Schumacher, a Moondance employee, said that there is no power and multiple trees down. No injuries have been reported. “Everyone is wet and awnings on campers are trashed,” she said. “There’s a handful of trees down and were not sure what the status is on power, or when we will get it back.” Despite the power outage and damage Schumacher said the show will go on. No power until Saturday In the Brainerd area, Crow Wing Power spokesperson Char Kinzer said some customers would have their power out until Saturday due to the extent of the destruction. She called Thursday’s storm “twice as damaging” compared to a storm that struck the area the weekend of July 10. The storm caused four breaks in larger transmission lines; near Remer, Longville, Pine River and Outing, she said. Transmission lines differ from distribution lines in that transmission lines are much larger and transport electricity from the wholesale power supplier to Crow Wing Power, which then distributes it via substations and distribution lines. The distribution lines are what people typically think of when they think of power lines, Kinzer said. Crews were called in at 2:30 a.m., and by 11 a.m., 19 crews consisting of about 40 workers total were repairing lines and clearing trees. Heat a concern Although tree, power line and structural damage was reported across central Minnesota, area law enforcement did not receive reports of any major storm-related injuries. The extreme heat was a concern, however, as people worked outside in cleanup efforts. In Aitkin County, the city of Hill City appeared to be suffering the greatest following the early morning storms. Aitkin County Sheriff Scott Turner said power was out in much of the city, with a huge number of trees and power lines down. Turner said city officials and staff from the Aitkin County Health and Human Services department arranged a cooling station at the Hill City Community Center to offer residents relief from the dangerous heat. Generators were powering air conditioners, and food and drinks were on hand, Turner said. The center will be open again Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
In Cass County, Sheriff Tom Burch said there were no particular areas affected more than others, but rather damage was spread throughout most of the county. Burch said crews are working to clear roads and secure downed power lines throughout the region. “It’ll be a few days before all the roads are cleared,” Burch said. Crosslake Police Chief Bob Hartman said the Army Corps of Engineers campground in Crosslake was hit hard, with at least 100 trees down. Several campers and vehicles were damaged within the campground area, including one vehicle that was “totally annihilated,” Hartman said. “There were no injuries,” Hartman said. “We really got lucky again.” Feeding on the heat The storms were able to sustain themselves by feeding on the warm, humid air that’s been prevalent throughout Minnesota all week, Stewart said. The warm, moist air created unstable conditions, he said, which is conducive to the development of severe storms. “They just kept developing and feeding off the moisture,” Stewart said. “It was just like gasoline.” Conditions were favorable for high winds, Stewart said, resulting in numerous reports of 70-80 mph winds. There were no reports of funnel clouds or tornadoes, he said, but 70-80 mph winds can still create damage like a tornado. The NWS also received reports of baseball-sized hail in parts of the storm’s path. “It was a wide swath of damage,” Stewart said. “It was an amazing storm system, we don’t get these too often, fortunately.” Storm systems with a wide area of damage like this one only come around every few years, Stewart said. Duluth hard hit In Duluth, the fire department advised no travel in the city of Duluth until later Thursday because of downed trees and power lines. "Property owners are advised to not be cutting trees on roadways or on private property until power lines are secured by Minnesota Power. We have several reports of downed lines intertwined with downed trees," the fire department reported. The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office also advised no unnecessary travel in the county. "Holy-moly," gasped Rachel Barbot, surveying tree damage at her Duluth home Thursday morning. "A lot less privacy from the neighbors now." She had just returned from an overnight shift at Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center, where she works on the obstetrics floor. "It was busy," Barbot said. "When the pressure changed with the storm, a lot of women went into labor." Electricit was out across much of the eastern half of Duluth, with most businesses in those areas unable to open Thursday morning. A number of power lines were down on the ground under the weight of uprooted or snapped-off trees, and officials are warning people to stay away from any lines. The outages were affecting the Duluth antenna farm, knocking most if not all Duluth TV and radio station off the air. Power also is out at the city’s main Lakewood water pumping station, which means no new water is being pumped into the city’s massive reservoir and water tower system. Duluth city officials were asking all residents to conserve water as much as possible. The severe storms cleared out most of the disturbances in the upper levels of the atmosphere, Stewart said, so there wasn’t another group of storms brewing in the immediate future. But, the NWS was forecasting another round of severe weather for Saturday afternoon and evening, serving up damaging winds and hail. There have been five major weather events since June 19, he said.
