Thunderstorm Wind — Cook, Minnesota

2016-06-19 · near Marais, Cook, Minnesota

Event narrative

A large tree trunk was snapped several feet above ground level and the tree landed on a man and his son who were camping on Duncan Lake. The tree killed the father, Craig Walz, the brother of Minnesota Representative Tim Walz, as well as seriously injuring Craig's son. The son was airlifted to a hospital in Duluth.

Wider weather episode

Tornadic thunderstorms formed in a very unstable airmass ahead of a cold front that moved through the area during the evening. Storms developed around 5 pm, and moved rapidly east, affecting much of northeast Minnesota and parts of northwest Wisconsin. Tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds occurred across parts of the area.

Damage surveys conducted by National Weather Service meteorologists confirmed 4 tornadoes over northeast Minnesota that evening. The strength of the tornadoes ranged from EF0 to EF2.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (48.0748, -90.4686)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 645016. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.