MERRIFIELD — Residents of Merrifield listened to a chorus of buzzing saws Tuesday, June 17, as they began the work of cleaning extensive tree damage likely caused by a tornado Monday evening.
The storm moved through the area around 5 p.m., with reports of a twister starting near Casino — northwest of Pillager — and moving through Lake Shore, Nisswa and Merrifield, before ending near Crosby.
Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang reported no significant structure damage or injuries Monday night, telling KAXE, "I think we got lucky on this one."
About 2,000 Crow Wing Power customers in the Merrifield area lost power around 5 p.m. Monday. Power returned for about half of them around 10 p.m. and the rest around 11:30 p.m.
Crews from the National Weather Service were in the area Tuesday to survey damage.
Patrick Ayd, meteorologist for the weather service in Duluth, said they'll work to determine the tornado's start and end points, whether it was down continuously and its strength.
"They're going to go out and look at trees. What type of tree was it? Healthy tree? Was it one that was rotting that was just about ready to fall anyway? If there was structure damage, how well built was that structure?" he said.
"From that, they are able to get a damage indicator which can then back out a most likely wind speed, and from that, we would assign a rating to the tornado."
There were also tornado warnings issued for parts of the Iron Range, around Remer and Grand Rapids and north of Mille Lacs. Crews visited north of Mille Lacs Tuesday morning and "really didn't find much," Ayd said.
Preliminary survey results will likely be shared late afternoon or early evening Tuesday.
Flash flood warnings for the Iron Range and parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness were issued Monday evening.
Weather service volunteer observers reported 4.75 inches of rain near Marble, 4.25 inches near Virginia and 3.95 inches near Ely. There were also reports of over three inches near Embarrass, Tower and Iron Junction, over two inches near Cook and over an inch near Snow Bank Lake, Babbitt, Skibo and Cohasset.
The weather service received multiple reports of flooding in Virginia and near Lundgren Motors in Eveleth around 8 p.m. and in Calumet around 7 p.m.
The storm came almost exactly a year after 4 to 6-plus inches of rain fell on the Range, causing considerable flooding and months of cleanup.
There were no widespread reports of hail, but dime-sized to larger than quarter-sized stones were reported in Lake Shore.
The weather service is always looking for reports from the public, Ayd said. Photos and videos can be shared with them through social media.
"We have our radar, right? We have our satellite. We have all these really amazing technology," he said. "But it doesn't replace being able to actually see what's happening in real time."
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