Bertil Lindquist’s sailboat was blown from its safe harbor mooring onto the beach near the Trading Post due to the high winds that blew through the area Wednesday, October 27.
Call it the epitome of wind energy: trees were downed, waves were up, boats were beached, shingles blown off, power outages reported countywide, and in Grand Marais people gathered along the shore to take pictures or just watch Mother Nature pound over the breakwall and stir the lake into a boiling froth.
The midweek storm was a witch’s brew just in time for Halloween. The wind was the broom and at any time it wouldn’t have been surprising to see the Wicked Witch of the North come cackling in over the Grand Marais lighthouse on it.
Inland, the moisture changed from rain to snow, and several places recorded three inches of white stuff. The Greenwood Lake area, in fact, looked like a winter wonderland.
Thefirst fall storm hit early Tuesday with high wind and rain, and by early Wednesday wind gusts hit 40 miles per hour, and the low-pressure reading of 28.49 at noon at the Cook County Airport was one of the lowest ever recorded for the state of Minnesota.
Top: This beautiful evergreen has graced the entrance of the Grand Marais Art Colony since the building was first built and used as a Catholic Church. The beautiful tree blew down Wednesday morning in the windstorm. By the end of the day most of the tree had been cut up and removed. Above: The building that suffered the most damage Wednesday was the Grand Marais Municipal Pool, which lost its shingles and insulation. No word yet on when the pool’s roof will be repaired or when the pool will be reopened.
Throughout the Arrowhead Region, new all-time low-pressure readings were being set by the hour. Thelowest at press time was recorded in Aitkin at 28.42.
Thestorm has been compared to the one that sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald,
Nov. 10, 1975. During that storm, the low-pressure reading of 28.95 set the record. The old Minnesota record was set November 10, 1998, at 28.43 in Austin and Albert Lea.
The National Weather Service said the low-pressure storm was comparable to a Category 3 hurricane, although this storm lacked the 111 to 130 mile per hour winds of those ferocious storms.
All day long Wednesday county highway department and Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) workers were clearing trees from roads. Crews from Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. were busy clearing trees from downed power lines and restoring power to local communities. Local tree services were busy cutting and hauling away trees and branches from yards and businesses.
Some of the worst damage occurred at the Grand Marais municipal swimming pool, which lost most of its shingles and insulation from the roof.
Two boats, a sailboat owned by Bertil Lindquist and a larger boat owned by Tim Mackey of Duluth, were grounded. Mackey’s boat washed up by Angry Trout Restaurant and Lindquist’s boat beached next to the Lake Superior Trading Post.
Among the hundreds of trees downed by the storm, the Grand Marais Art Colony lost the giant evergreen that stood as a sentinel in front of its doors for decades.
Cook County Sheriff Mark Falk reported that his crew was busy responding to “numerous power outages and downed trees blocking roads.”
When asked how many trees needed clearing from roadways Falk said, “They’re too numerous to count. We have been getting a lot of calls from the Gunflint Trail and the Cascade State Park area. But really, I am surprised that there isn’t more damage. When I drive around I’m not seeing as many downed trees as I thought I would see.”
Still, noted Falk, Thursday was bringing more high winds and more chance for damage to property. He expected his already busy crew to be busier than normal and the phones to continue ringing from callers needing assistance.
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