Unprecedented: October tornado in the Boundary Waters
NWS Duluth confirms EF2 tornado with 120 mph winds on Oct. 10
Chalk up yet another unprecedented extreme weather event for Minnesota.
The Duluth NWS office confirms a tornado tore through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Cook County and crossed the Canadian border into Ontario on Oct. 10. The twister flattened huge trees and tore through several well-traveled lakes from just north of the Gunflint Trail into Canada.
It’s the first tornado warning and tornado recorded in the BWCA in October.
The tornado touched down near Alder Lake, which is just east of the popular East Bearskin Lake entry point. It pushed straight north through Caribou and Clearwater lakes and across the Canadian border before lifting in Ontario. I have traveled this popular BWCA route before and camped on Alder and Clearwater lakes.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Here are some of the details from the Oct. 10 BWCA tornado.
Time on ground: 6:10 to 6:20 p.m.
Rating: EF2
Estimated winds: 120 mph
Path length: 4 miles
Path width: 500 yards
NWS Duluth tornado warning lead-time: 34 minutes
The tornado damage swath is so significant that it’s visible from weather satellites 22,000 miles above the earth as a “tornado scar.”
This unprecedented, out-of-season, October tornado is yet another data point that climate change has stretched our season in Minnesota beyond the limits of what was expected or possible in the past 100 years.
Kudos to the Duluth NWS office for issuing an impressive 34-minute lead time for this tornado.