Windy storm blasts Northland; thousands left without power

A fast-moving line of thunderstorms surged across southern Itasca and St. Louis counties Tuesday evening, downing trees, damaging buildings and leaving thousands of people without power.

"I'll bet the winds were 80 to 90 miles an hour," said Vern Skoglund, owner of the Silver Fox Lodge on Boulder Lake north of Duluth. "It was raining pretty hard. ... You couldn't see nothing, the wind was blowing so hard."

Lake Country Power reported more than 3,000 customers were without power in the Grand Rapids area, and the Minnesota Power website showed more than 2,300 out on a line from Deer River in Itasca County to Normanna Township in St. Louis County.

Deer River appeared to be one of the hardest-hit areas, said Carol Christenson, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Duluth. Straight-line winds of at least 70 mph toppled trees and damaged buildings in and near the town, she said.

Itasca County Sheriff Vic Williams said in a news release that the Deer River area experienced widespread damage and numerous power outages in the storm that hit about 5:30 p.m. People were being asked to conserve water and other resources, to check on their neighbors and stay clear of downed lines and suspended trees.

There were no reports of any injuries, Christenson said.

The storm followed a path north of Grand Rapids, north of Duluth and to the Two Harbors area, Christenson said. It was accompanied by torrential rain of as much as three-quarters of an inch in an hour.

Dime-sized hail also occurred in places, she said.

The Island Lake and Boulder Lake areas were hit hard, according to the St. Louis County Public Works Department. Crews were assessing damage and removing debris from county roads where possible, county maintenance engineer Pete Eakman reported in a news release. Downed power lines were a concern, he said, especially because they were difficult to see in the dark.

Skoglund's Silver Fox Lodge, where about 20 people were camping, was among places without power.

"Everybody's fine, but we've got a camper that's been flattened" when a tree fell on it, he said.

"Nobody can get out right now because a wire's down on the road," Skoglund added.

The line of storms came at the end of a day with unusually high temperatures and humidity, Christenson said. The high temperature was 85 at the Duluth International Airport, and dewpoints were in the mid to upper 60s.

But "there was not a single drop of rain" at the weather service office, Christenson. "The storm stayed just north of us."

Conditions are expected to be less humid today, with some sunshine and very light winds she said.