Lightning — St. Louis, Minnesota

2016-06-19 · near Winton, St. Louis, Minnesota

Event narrative

Three youth who were part of an Outward Bound group of 8 were injured by an indirect lightning strike Sunday night while camped along Sunday Bay on Crooked Lake, along the U.S.-Canada border north of Ely. Three students in the group sustained injuries ranging from superficial burns to temporary loss of consciousness. According to the St. Louis County sheriff's office, the group was spread out among the trees near Sunday Bay on Crooked Lake when lightning struck the stand of trees above the group.

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 → (48.2000, -91.8645)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 645022. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.