Thunderstorm Wind — St. Louis, Minnesota

2019-09-17 · near Mc Comber, St. Louis, Minnesota

Event narrative

Marginally severe storms moved through the area during the early afternoon hours leading to sporadic downed trees. Following the storms, a homeowner was on his roof removing a downed tree when he lost his footing and fell approximately 20 feet to the ground and landing on a propane tank. First responders attempted life saving efforts upon arrival, but the homeowner died on the scene. The closest observing site to the location of the fatality was the Ely Airport which reported a max gust to 30 mph during the storm, but higher gusts were likely based on the tree damage reports.

Wider weather episode

A complex of storms moved from eastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota the morning of the 17th to the Minnesota Arrowhead by the mid-afternoon hours. These elevated storms were able to tap into some elevated instability and briefly become stronger over northeastern St. Louis County. Marginally severe hail was reported along with a few downed trees in the same area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.8231, -92.0949)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 858968. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.