Widespread storm damage up north; Duluth officials advise no travel
Severe storms raced through northern and central Minnesota overnight, causing widespread damage.
The bowing line of severe storms tore up trees along the storm path, with numerous reports of trees down near Ely, Grand Rapids and the Iron Range, Nisswa and in and near Duluth and parts of the North Shore.
The Duluth Fire Department is advising no travel this morning because of downed power lines and blocked streets.
Here are some selected storm reports that rolled into the Duluth NWS office.
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Pequot Lakes [Crow Wing Co, MN] 911 CALL CENTER reports TSTM WND DMG at 1:45 AM CDT -- MULTIPLE TREES REPORTED DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
Nisswa [Crow Wing Co, MN] 911 CALL CENTER reports TSTM WND DMG at 1:48 AM CDT -- MULTIPLE TREES REPORTED DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
Grand Rapids [Itasca Co, MN] PUBLIC reports TSTM WND DMG at 2:24 AM CDT -- LARGE TREE BRANCHES UP TO 10 INCHES IN DIAMETER DOWNED IN THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF GRAND RAPIDS.
1 S Canyon [St. Louis Co, MN] TRAINED SPOTTER reports TSTM WND DMG at 3:10 AM CDT -- LOTS OF LARGE TREES DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 53 SOUTH OF CANYON. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
Duluth Heights [St. Louis Co, MN] TRAINED SPOTTER reports TSTM WND DMG at 3:25 AM CDT -- 2 LARGE BIRCH TREES SNAPPED OFF. POWER IS OUT.
Lakeside-Lester Park [St. Louis Co, MN] BROADCAST MEDIA reports TSTM WND DMG at 3:32 AM CDT -- NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN LAKESIDE ON LONDON ROAD. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
SE Lester Park Duluth [St. Louis Co, MN] AMATEUR RADIO reports TSTM WND DMG at 3:35 AM CDT -- 90 FOOT TALL TREE ACROSS 52ND AVE EAST. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
The Duluth NWS radar captured the line with multiple bowing line segments in full severe mode at 2:35 a.m. this morning.
Wind gusts exceeded 60 mph at many locations from Fargo, N.D., through Detroit Lakes, and Bemidji to Duluth.
3 NNW Fargo [Cass Co, ND] ASOS reports TSTM WND GST of M69 MPH at 12:03 AM CDT -- PEAK WIND OF 60 KNOTS MEASURED AT THE FARGO AIRPORT /KFAR/.
3 W Detroit Lakes [Becker Co, MN] AWOS reports TSTM WND GST of M67 MPH at 12:35 AM CDT -- PEAK WINDS MEASURED AT THE DETROIT LAKES AIRPORT /KDTL/
3 WNW Bemidji [Beltrami Co, MN] AWOS reports TSTM WND GST of M60 MPH at 1:05 AM CDT -- PEAK WINDS MEASURED AT THE BEMIDJI AIRPORT /KBJI/
5 SW Inger [Itasca Co, MN] MESONET reports TSTM WND GST of M68 MPH at 1:55 AM CDT --
Brainerd [Crow Wing Co, MN] EMERGENCY MNGR reports TSTM WND GST of E60 MPH at 2:03 AM CDT -- TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
4 NNE Bear Head Lake ST [St. Louis Co, MN] MESONET reports TSTM WND GST of M52 MPH at 2:38 AM CDT --
5 SW Snow Bank Lake [Lake Co, MN] AWOS reports TSTM WND GST of M62 MPH at 3:13 AM CDT --
2 S Hill City [Aitkin Co, MN] MESONET reports TSTM WND GST of M65 MPH at 3:07 AM CDT -- RAWS STATION HCYM5.
5 NW Duluth [St. Louis Co, MN] ASOS reports TSTM WND GST of M69 MPH at 3:32 AM CDT --
1 ESE Duluth [St. Louis Co, MN] COAST GUARD reports TSTM WND GST of M63 MPH at 3:36 AM CDT -- /SITE DULM5./
As of 5:15 a.m., Minnesota Power is reporting over 31,000 customers without power.
The storms were borderline severe as they raced through the Twin Cities around 4 a.m.
Xcel Energy reported over 26,000 customers without power as of 5:11 a.m.
