Tornadoes strafe parts of northern and southern Minnesota

A line of severe thunderstorms Monday brought several reports of tornadoes in Crow Wing and surrounding counties in north-central Minnesota.

Severe weather in south-central Minnesota included reports of at least one small tornado and several funnel clouds. However, no major damage was immediately reported.

In northern Minnesota, initial information during and after the storm indicated damage appeared to be confined to trees, with no major property damage or injuries reported.

At 4:40 p.m. Monday the National Weather Service in Duluth issued a tornado warning until 5:30 p.m. for south central Cass, central and northern Crow Wing and west central Aitkin counties. The weather service reported weather spotters confirmed a tornado northwest of Gull Lake about 4:36 p.m., and law enforcement officers in Cass and Crow Wing counties also reported seeing a funnel. Tornados also were reported later near Crosby and east of Brainerd, prompting the weather service to extend the tornado warning until 5:45 p.m. and again 6:15 p.m. into Aitkin County.

Along with tornadoes the thunderstorms brought a lot of rain and strong winds. The weather service received several reports of hail, with 1.25 inch hail reported in Lake Shore. Over an inch of rain fell Monday in Brainerd.

A storm chaser 6 miles northwest of Wealthwood in Aitkin County reported debris in the air and on the ground. A trained spotter 1 mile north of Merrifield reported trees fallen in multiple directions.

Several fallen trees partially blocked County Road 127 west of Merrifield, and the road was closed from County Highway 3 to County Road 137 for crews to perform highline repairs due to the storm damage.

Steve Bible, a resident on County Road 127, joined others to help clear the roads with a chainsaw after the storm cleared up. Bible said the clouds turned dark green and gray and began swirling overhead as a tornado passed nearby. Multiple driveaways were blocked and powerlines were crushed. Leaves, branches and debris littered the road.

Nisswa Fire and Rescue reported to Twin Lakes Road to the north of Merrifield to clear multiple large fallen trees blocking the road. Winds ripped down a large wooden sign at Northland Construction on County Highway 3. It was reported Mollie Lake Road also was closed for a period of time to clear numerous trees that had fallen during the storm.

At 6:05 p.m., Crow Wing County Emergency Management Director Clayton Barg said they positioned the emergency command trailer in Merrifield at the Merrifield Lions Park and were beginning to receive reports from the storm. At that time, there were around 2,000 people in the county without power and reports of a lot of trees down, though the county had not received any reports of structural damage or injuries.

Barg said most of the damage they were seeing was west of Merrifield.

At around 7:10 p.m., Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang said dozens of trees were down and had multiple roads closed in the county.

“We got a lot of tree damage, a lot of roads blocked. We have about 2,000 people without power, and we are currently just trying to make an assessment,” Klang said. “We got our drones up and we’re flying the damaged areas to see what kind of damage there was to homes and any structural damage or anything like that. We’ve seen a few things, but luckily nothing too bad as of right now.”

Klang said they had not yet received any reports of injuries caused by the storm.

At around 5:35 p.m., Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk said they were working to get everybody situated and start their damage assessment.

“Some trees are down for sure, but we’re just in the process of getting everybody in position,” Welk said.

At around 7 p.m. Welk said “they dodged a bullet” as he reported only minor structure damage and dozens of trees down. He said most of the damage was around Agate Lake, just west of Gull Lake.

According to a Facebook post, 1,800 Crow Wing Power members in the Merrifield area were out of power as of 5:16 p.m., while smaller outages were reported in the Nisswa area. Crews were on their way to restore power.

The post advised people to stay away from downed power lines or trees near power lines, as they could still be energized. Power outages should be reported by texting “OUT” or calling 1-800-648-9401.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday Minnesota Power reported active outages in Cass and Crow Wing counties, affecting 17 customers.