Severe Storms and Funnel Clouds: July 14, 2008

Funnel cloud at Lake 14, Twelve miles northwest of Virginia in St. Louis County

Funnel cloud at Lake 14, Twelve miles northwest of Virginia in St. Louis County
Courtesy WIDO-TV Duluth and Tim Jacobsen

There were turbulent skies in northeastern Minnesota as severe storms struck during the evening and twilight hours of July 14th. Hardest hit were parts of central and eastern Itasca County, including the Coleraine area, north of Virgina in St Louis County, and the Isabella area in Lake County. Along with hail up to one inch in diameter, there were reports of funnels and they were captured on camera. The Duluth National Weather Service will sent out a damage survey team to inspect areas that were hardest hit. While there was evidence of wind damage, no signs of damage due to a tornado could be seen. In addition to the wind and hail, some heavy rain fell with minor street flooding reported in Nashwauk in Itasca County.

Below are local storm reports and a public information statement courtesy the National Weather Service.


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
826 PM AM CDT TUE JUL 15 2008

METEOROLOGISTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DULUTH CONDUCTED 
DAMAGE SURVEYS TODAY IN THREE AREAS WHERE REPORTS OF DAMAGE WERE RECEIVED 
FROM STORMS ON MONDAY EVENING. THE THREE AREAS THAT WERE INVESTIGATED WERE 
1) CENTRAL AND EASTERN ITASCA COUNTY... INCLUDING THE COLERAINE AREA AND 
NORTH OF GRAND RAPIDS... 2) ST. LOUIS COUNTY NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF 
VIRGINIA AND 3) LAKE COUNTY IN THE ISABELLA AREA. RESULTS OF THE SURVEYS 
REVEALED SEVERAL AREAS OF WIND DAMAGE... BUT NO TORNADOES COULD BE CONFIRMED 
VIA EVIDENCE OF DAMAGE TRACKS DURING THE GROUND SURVEY.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED IN THE ISABELLA AREA OF LAKE COUNTY... 
WITH A CONCENTRATED AREA OF DAMAGE OBSERVED 4 TO 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF ISABELLA. 
AN ESTIMATED 40 ACRES OF TREES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED OR BLOWN DOWN AT 
THIS LOCATION.  THIS DAMAGE PATH CONTINUED IN AN EAST-SOUTHEAST DIRECTION 
TO EAST OF ISABELLA...WHERE NUMEROUS OTHER LARGE TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN.  
THE BLOWN DOWN TREES IN THIS AREA EXHIBITED A CLEARLY DIVERGENT PATTERN... 
INDICATING THAT THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY NON-TORNADIC MICROBURST WINDS.
DESPITE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS AND BRIEF TORNADOES MONDAY 
EVENING IN LOCALES NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF VIRGINIA... VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE
OF WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN THIS AREA.  SPORADIC DAMAGE TO MEDIUM AND 
A FEW LARGE TREES WAS OBSERVED IN THIS AREA... INCLUDING ALONG HIGHWAY 53... 
AND IN THE LAKE FOURTEEN AREA... BUT NO EVIDENCE OF A TORNADO DAMAGE 
PATH COULD BE LOCATED.  

FINALLY... TO THE NORTH OF GRAND RAPIDS AND IN THE COLERAINE AREAS... 
WIND DAMAGE WAS SPORADIC AND SCATTERED.  A FEW MEDIUM TO LARGE TREES 
WERE EITHER BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED OFF ALONG HIGHWAY 38 FROM 5 TO 15 
MILES NORTH OF GRAND RAPIDS... BUT SIMILARLY TO THE ST. LOUIS COUNTY 
SURVEY... NO CONSISTENT DAMAGE PATH CHARACTERISTIC OF A TORNADO 
COULD BE FOUND.WE WILL DO ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION ON WEDNESDAY... 
AND POST A SUMMARY ON OUR WEBPAGE.



PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
128 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0830 PM     HAIL             TALMOON                 47.60N 93.77W
07/14/2008  E0.75 INCH       ITASCA             MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0832 PM     HAIL             WIRT                    47.73N 93.96W
07/14/2008  M0.75 INCH       NORTHWEST ITASCA   MN   AMATEUR RADIO

0845 PM     TORNADO          BUHL                    47.50N 92.77W
07/14/2008                   ST. LOUIS          MN   PUBLIC

0850 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     12 N GRAND RAPIDS       47.40N 93.52W
07/14/2008                   ITASCA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0850 PM     TORNADO          5 N VIRGINIA            47.59N 92.51W
07/14/2008                   ST. LOUIS          MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BRIEF TOUCHDOWN

0905 PM     TORNADO          13 NNW VIRGINIA         47.69N 92.61W
07/14/2008                   ST. LOUIS          MN   PUBLIC

1000 PM     HAIL             SQUAW LAKE              47.63N 94.14W
07/14/2008  E0.88 INCH       ITASCA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            GROUND WHITE

1008 PM     HAIL             15 NNW NASHWAUK         47.58N 93.29W
07/14/2008  E1.00 INCH       ITASCA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            COVERING GROUND AND GETTING LARGER. TREE DOWN.

1018 PM     HAIL             16 N DEER RIVER         47.57N 93.79W
07/14/2008  M1.00 INCH       ITASCA             MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

1020 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 NNE BOWSTRING         47.61N 93.76W
07/14/2008                   ITASCA             MN   AMATEUR RADIO

            14 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN ON THE NORTH SIDE OF BOWSTRING
            LAKE

1034 PM     HAIL             3 N MARCELL             47.64N 93.69W
07/14/2008  M1.00 INCH       ITASCA             MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            STATE HWY 38 AND ITASCA COUNTY ROAD 43

1040 PM     HAIL             DEER RIVER              47.34N 93.79W
07/14/2008  E1.00 INCH       NORTHWEST ITASCA   MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            SOME LARGER.

1054 PM     HAIL             GRAND RAPIDS            47.23N 93.52W
07/14/2008  E1.00 INCH       ITASCA             MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

1056 PM     HAIL             GRAND RAPIDS            47.23N 93.52W
07/14/2008  M0.88 INCH       ITASCA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ESTIMATED TIME

1057 PM     HAIL             COLERAINE               47.31N 93.42W
07/14/2008  E0.88 INCH       SOUTHERN ITASCA    MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

1059 PM     TSTM WND GST     GRAND RAPIDS            47.23N 93.52W
07/14/2008  E45.00 MPH       ITASCA             MN   PUBLIC

1101 PM     HAIL             COLERAINE               47.31N 93.42W
07/14/2008  E1.00 INCH       ITASCA             MN   PUBLIC

1237 AM     HAIL             MEADOWLANDS             47.07N 92.73W
07/15/2008  E0.88 INCH       ST. LOUIS          MN   AMATEUR RADIO

0109 AM     HEAVY RAIN       NASHWAUK                47.38N 93.17W
07/15/2008  E3.00 INCH       ITASCA             MN   AMATEUR RADIO

            3 TO 4 INCHES OF WATER IN STREETS. MINOR STREET FLOODING