Bullseye for severe weather may surprise you

The epicenter for severe weather this summer, with six severe thunderstorm warnings, two tornado warnings, hail, downed trees … it might surprise you! It’s not Rochester, not the Minnesota River Valley or somewhere at a more southern latitude. We’re actually looking into northern Minnesota, on Red Lake Nation region plus great Beltrami County. As the Emergency Manager for Beltrami County wrote on my Facebook page earlier Tuesday: “Lest forget the bullseye of the 2025 Derecho last year... we will gladly trade severe weather for rain if there are any takers out there!”

On Monday evening, right before dusk, a roughly 20-mile-long nearly continuous path of tree damage moved through Beltrami County. Indian roads 40 and 18 were among the spots with highest impacts, along with Redby and Kelliher. In Kelliher, several trees fell on homes an cars, though road crews were able to clear many nearby streets of downed trees within a few short hours. Over at the Kelliher school, the crow’s nest was toppled, and the athletics shed was somersaulted over and over! We have not had any reports of people or animals hurt but there was quite a bit of damage. While storm chasers reported a tornado touch-down, there are still some questions of whether Monday night’s storms will be labeled a tornado. NWS Grand Forks will decide once Sentinel satellite data arrives.

This was not the first round of severe weather this summer up in northern Minnesota. There have been six severe thunderstorm warnings and two tornado warnings right over the city of Red Lake itself, and just since June! Plus, don’t forget that the Bemidji Blowdown was not that far away in 2025.