Blowdown from the June storm on the east side of the Superior National Forest. Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service
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Recent Weather in the BWCA Brings Back Memories of the 1999 Blowdown Storm
By Joe Friedrichs
Most people never saw it coming.
Not in late June, when a series of thunderstorms caused havoc across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and large swaths of northeastern Minnesota.
Following the June 18 storms, officials from the U.S. Forest Service conducted aerial surveys of Superior National Forest and the BWCA. They discovered an area on the Gunflint District where “straight-line wind or tornado damage to vegetation” occurred.
The same storm system that blew down trees across the Boundary Waters also caused widespread flooding. The Forest Service had to shut down entry points, help people get out who were essentially trapped at various entry points due to road washouts, and consider how much of the BWCA needed to close given the extensive damage from the storm.
Local, state, and federal agencies that have jurisdiction near the Boundary Waters are constantly navigating the balance of keeping people safe and letting the public have their fun. The recent storms also bring to mind a legendary storm that rolled across the BWCA 25 years ago this month.
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