National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

...NWS SURVEYS EXTREME WIND DAMAGE IN NORTHERN WALSH AND SOUTHERN
KITTSON COUNTIES...

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM DAMAGE TEAM TRAVELED TO DONALDSON
MINNESOTA AND GRAFTON NORTH DAKOTA AREAS TO REVIEW EXTREME DAMAGE
FROM EARLY MORNING STORMS.

A MILE WEST OF DONALDSON... PEAK WESTERLY WINDS TO 121 MPH WERE
MEASURED AT THE MNDOT RWIS SITE LOCATED ALONG HIGHWAY 11 AND WERE
REPORTED FROM 303 AM CDT TO 314 AM CDT. DAMAGE TO DOWNWIND FIELDS...
FARM SHELTER BELTS AND THE COMMUNITY OF DONALDSON WERE FOUND TO BE
COMMENSURATE WITH WINDS TO THAT EXTREME RANGE.

IN DONALDSON...TWO LARGE COMMERCIAL GRADE STEEL BINS AND THEIR
HORIZONTAL TRANSFER SYSTEM WERE TORN OUT FROM THE LOCAL GRAIN
ELEVATOR FACILITY AND WERE SPLAYED TO THE EAST... PARTIALLY BLOCKING
U.S. HIGHWAY 75. SEVERAL WOODEN POWER POLES IN THE AREA WERE ALSO
SNAPPED. NUMEROUS LARGE TREES AND TREE LIMBS WERE TORN DOWN AROUND
THE COMMUNITY AND MOST HOMES SUSTAINED SHINGLE... ROOFING AND SIDING
DAMAGE.

A MILE EAST OF DONALDSON...THREE FARM GRADE STEEL GRAIN BINS WERE
TORN OFF THEIR FOUNDATIONS AND BLOWN OUT INTO A FIELD. THREE MORE
STEEL BINS AT THE FARM YARD WERE SEVERELY DENTED IN AND PARTIALLY
REMOVED FROM THEIR FOUNDATIONS. NUMEROUS SHINGLES WERE TORN OFF OF A
HOME AND ALL WEST FACING WINDOWS ON THE HOME WERE CRACKED. A NEARBY
METAL HIGHWAY SIGNPOST WAS SNAPPED.

IN GRAFTON... NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF...INCLUDING SOME
60 TO 70 FOOT TALL EVERGREENS. AT LEAST FIVE HOUSES AND MULTIPLE
VEHICLES WERE DAMAGED BY TREES FALLING ON THEM. ONE TRAILER HOUSE
HAD SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE FROM A TREE FALLING ON IT. LARGE COMMERCIAL
GRADE STEEL GRAIN BINS WEST OF TOWN WERE DENTED BY THE FORCE OF WIND
WHILE GRAIN ELEVATOR FACILITIES NEAR DOWNTOWN ALSO RECEIVED SOME
DAMAGE. SEVERAL COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS HAD METAL SIDING BLOWN OFF.
FIVE OR SIX WOODEN UTILITY POLES WERE SNAPPED OFF AND ONE
CANTILEVERED STEEL LIGHT POLE WAS BLOWN DOWN. SEVERAL STREET AND
HIGHWAY SIGNS WERE BENT OR TWISTED. PEAK WINDS IN THE COMMUNITY WERE
ESTIMATED TO 90 MPH BASED ON DAMAGES. THE PEAK WIND REGISTERED AT
THE AIRPORT... LOCATED 2 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF TOWN WAS 64 MPH.

DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS OF FROM 60 TO 75 MPH WERE REPORTED ACROSS
SEVERAL PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA DURING THE LATE
EVENING HOURS OF WEDNESDAY... AUGUST 31ST. THE SQUALL LINE
RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE DAMAGING WINDS CONTINUED ACROSS NORTHEAST
NORTH DAKOTA AND FAR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA DURING THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS. SO FAR... THE MOST EXTREME WIND DAMAGE HAS BEEN NOTED ACROSS
NORTHERN PORTIONS OF WALSH COUNTY ND INTO SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
KITTSON COUNTY MN. THESE MORE EXTREME DAMAGES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A
BOWING SEGMENT OF THE SQUALL LINE THAT MOVED AT FORWARD SPEEDS
APPROACHING 65 MPH... AND PRODUCED POCKETS OF DAMAGING WINDS IN WELL
IN EXCESS OF 85 MPH.