NWS survey of northern Minnesota straight-line windstorm shows widespread destruction
The clean-up continues after strong storms hit a popular lake town in northern Minnesota over the weekend.
The damage is widespread thanks to an extreme windstorm.
"It's a rarity to see this magnitude like that across the area," said Jacob Spender with the National Weather Service, describing the scene across Bemidji after it got hit hard by storms early Saturday morning. "I've seen wind damage, but nothing like this. This is when people compare things to larger-scale wind events like hurricanes. It almost felt like I was in a hurricane's path and the aftermath damage, just by the sheer force of all the trees all the way down, power lines down."
A straight-line windstorm carved a damage path 10 miles wide through downtown Bemidji and in the southern Lake Bemidji area.
"The rarity comes from the exact sheer scale of the winds themselves. I have not seen this in a very long time — seen 100 mph winds like this over a course of a larger area," Spender said.
The storm damage survey shows thousands of trees completely snapped, along with numerous roofs and garages destroyed. The wind speeds were estimated to be 90 to 120 mph, which is the same as an EF-2 tornado.
"But also awe inspiring that the community itself was coming together and kind of rebuilding the city and helping each other out in that part, and that it was very good to see that kind of feel and feel that kind of energy in that area," Spender said.
While the town continues to clean up, many places remain closed like Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College. They will remain closed through Wednesday and ask that the public not come to the campuses during the closure.
