- Boundary Waters-Canadian Derecho
. It traveled convert|1300|mi|km|0 and lasted 22 hours.
torm path
North Dakota
In the pre-dawn hours of
July 4 , a band of thunderstorms developed over far easternNorth Dakota .Hector International Airport in northwest Fargo recorded winds in excess of 58 mph (95 km/h) for 40 minutes and a maximum wind gust of convert|91|mi/h|km/h|0|abbr=on. Many planes were damaged or overturned. The hangars suffered damage as well.The worst damage occurred farther south in West Fargo, North Dakota and in south central Fargo, North Dakota. Wind gusts in these areas were estimated at as high as convert|110|mi/h|km/h|-1|abbr=on.
The storm caused $85 million in damage (1999 dollars) in the Fargo metropolitan area. Over 40,000 people were without power. Cars were overturned, roofs were severely damaged, and power poles were blown down.
Minnesota
.
One person was killed and 60 were injured as the derecho passed through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and
Superior National Forest . People were there to enjoy canoeing and other recreation for theIndependence Day weekend. Straight line winds in excess of 90 mph (145 km/h) uprooted and snapped off trees in over 370,000 acres (1,500 km²) of the 1 million acre (4,000 km²) wilderness area. In total, more than 477,000 acres (1,930 km²) of forest was affected in the Superior National Forest in a swath 30 miles (48.3 km) long and 4 to 12 miles (6.4 to 19.3 km) wide. It's estimated that 25 million trees were blown down in the BWCA. [cite web | last = Breining | first = Greg | title = Boundary Waters: The Fire Next Time | publisher = Minnesota DNR | url = http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/mayjun00/blowdown.html | accessdate = 2007-03-26 ]Ontario
The derecho brought more damage when it crossed the border into northwestern
Ontario during the early afternoon hours of July 4. At its peak near Thunder Bay, the winds were estimated to have been much stronger, around 100 mph (160 km/h) and it spawned some small tornadoes. One sailboat was overturned and two people were thrown into the cold waters ofLake Superior . They were rescued by a nearby boater.The storm carved a path of destruction into the sparsely populated forested areas of northern
Ontario . TheCanadian Pacific track between White River and Chapleau in northestern Ontario was put out of service by fallen trees. No major population centers in Ontario east of Lake Superior were affected, however.Quebec
As it raced eastward at 62 mph (100 km/h), the system entered into western
Quebec in theTémiscamingue region around 11 pm. A gust of 65 mph (102 km/h) was reported at the automatic station of Angliers. There was also a tremendous amount of lightning associated with this derecho, around 6000 lightning strikes per hour. Another person in this derecho was killed atVal-des-Lacs (V on the map) when a tree fell on the victim. A woman was injured when a tree crushed her car.After narrowly missing the
Ottawa area, the storm moved quickly intoMontreal (M on the map) around 3 AM heading southeastward toward Maine. Much damage was recorded in the Metropolitan area but the worst affected area of Quebec was farther along its path near Sherbrooke (S on the map) in theEastern Townships where a church was badly damaged, farm buildings were damaged and 2,000 trees were felled. Hydro-Québec reported that over 600,000 people lost power; some were without power for over a week.New England
The storm continued southeast and caused more damage in
New Hampshire andVermont , killing one more person, before finally dissipating inMaine after 5 am on July, 5th.Aftermath
The Boundary Waters-Canadian Derecho is one of the farthest north "progressive" derechos to have ever been recorded. The derecho caused well over $100 million in damage, killed 4 persons and injured 70. Over 700,000 homes and businesses lost power from the event.
ee also
*
List of derecho events References
External links
* [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/science/event_archive/summer_archive/1999blowdown/1999blowdown.php NWS Duluth]
* [http://www.superiornationalforest.org/july4thstorm1999/ Superior National Forest (MN) storm recovery]
* [http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul4-51999page.htm NOAA's Storm Prediction Center page on the BW-C Derecho]
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