Power Outage in Thief River Falls, MN

A tornado knocked down several trees and branches in shelterbelts along its path. One power pole was snapped. The track was based on a combination of reports and satellite imagery. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

A tornado knocked down several trees and branches in shelterbelts along its path. One power pole was snapped. The track was based on a combination of reports and satellite imagery. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

This tornado likely became wrapped in heavy rain and downburst winds at times along its intermittent path. The tornado snapped numerous trees in shelterbelts along its path, and cracked at least two power poles. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.

This tornado likely became wrapped in heavy rain and downburst winds at times along its intermittent path. The tornado snapped numerous trees in shelterbelts along its path, and cracked at least two power poles. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.

A resident reported a roof anchored antenna was ripped off and a well anchored eight foot tall wind mill was blown over. The power was also out from 430 pm to 830 pm.

Numerous large tree branches and limbs were broken down around Star and Hickory townships. At least two wooden power poles were snapped, resulting in widespread power outages.

Numerous trees were blown down in Thief River Falls, knocking out power to some areas.

Light poles, power lines, and hundreds of trees were blown down. Peak winds across the central part of town were estimated at 60 to 80 mph.

Extreme winds snapped a dozen wooden power poles, uprooted numerous trees and caved in or otherwise demolished several large capacity steel grain bins and other outbuildings at a farm site. The tree damage extended across much of southern Silverton and northern Smiley townships. Peak winds were estimated at 110 to 120 mph.

Four inch diameter tree limbs were blown down. Powerlines were also knocked down.

Numerous large trees were blown down. The wind speed was measured by a Davis system. Two powerlines were also blown down.

An inverted trough stretched into the Red River Valley, from a low pressure system passing through the central plains. The precipitation began as a mixture of rain and freezing rain, falling quite heavily at times. The most freezing rain fell across southeast North Dakota and portions of west central Minnesota, although lighter amounts did fall further north. Trees and powerlines became weighted down with up to an inch of ice in places. As temperatures cooled and wind speeds increased, powerlines started to gallop and break in great numbers. Richland County in North Dakota and Wilkin County in Minnesota were hit the hardest from the freezing rain and power outages. Thousands of people lost power as several thousand wooden power poles were snapped. Additionally, one high voltage transmission line in southeast North Dakota was broken. Roads were blocked by fallen trees, branches, and powerlines. Many vehicle accidents and several injuries were reported due to the treacherous road conditions. The wind speeds increased around the noon hour on monday (11-28-05) causing blizzard conditions across southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota. Whiteout conditions continued into tuesday morning (11-29-05). Many schools were closed on both monday and tuesday, especially along and south of Interstate 94 in North Dakota and U.S. Highway 10 in Minnesota. For many schools, these were the first back-to-back day closures since the record winter of 1996-97. Interstate 29 was closed from Fargo to the South Dakota border, Interstate 94 was closed from Jamestown to Fergus Falls, and U.S. Highway 10 was closed from Moorhead to Detroit Lakes. Wilkin County reported 70 power poles down in one four mile stretch. Clay, Norman, and Wilkin Counties received a Presidential Disaster Declaration. The Governor of Minnesota sent National Guard troops and generators to Wolverton in northern Wilkin County.