Thunderstorm Wind — Clearwater, Minnesota

2025-06-20 · near Zerkel, Clearwater, Minnesota

Event narrative

High resolution satellite imagery reveals numerous swaths of significant tree damage in portions of southern Clearwater County MN. This includes one noteworthy area of widespread tree destruction near Long Lost Lake, particularly south and east of the lake. Maximum wind estimated from numerous trees snapped at the trunk blown down in a unidirectional and divergent pattern indicative of destructive straight line winds around 100 mph.

Wider weather episode

During the evening of Friday, June 20th into the early morning hours of June 21st, much of the region was affected by severe weather. A powerful line of severe thunderstorms categorized as a derecho, which tracked across much of the region, including northwest Minnesota, brought widespread straight line wind damage. After the derecho passed through the region, there was a period of prolonged destructive winds that affected portions of central and east central North Dakota, as well as adjacent portions of Minnesota. This was a unique event due to the long duration of significant winds that followed the derecho.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.1844, -95.4282)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1281638. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.