At least one tornado touched down Wednesday evening in northern St. Louis County, according to the National Weather Service in Duluth, resulting in “sporadic reports of damage” but no reported injuries or deaths as of Thursday morning.
The agency reported a tornado between Orr and Gheen shortly after 8 p.m. as strong thunderstorms moved through Itasca, Koochiching and northern St. Louis County last night and hammered the Boundary Waters in particular.
Weather service teams will be investigating three possible damage paths today. More details on the strength of the twisters and the extent of any damage is expected this afternoon.
Tornadoes are rare in the Northland. The last reported touchdown in St. Louis County was an EF-1 rated storm around the Sax-Zim Bog on June 19, 2016, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; a waterspout made landfall on Park Point near Sky Harbor Airport in 2012.
A string of tornadoes on Aug. 6, 1969, killed 15 people and injured more than a hundred across northern Minnesota.
by News Tribune (2019, July 18)
