Thunderstorms roll through region

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 30, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Thunderstorms rolled through the region for the second consecutive day Wednesday -- producing hail, lighting strikes and possible tornado sightings.

Reports of funnel clouds and tornadoes were not confirmed Thursday by area law and National Weather Service officials.

But, according to residents in the Guthrie area, a funnel cloud was sighted about seven miles south of Bemidji and 6.5 miles northwest of Guthrie.

A Hubbard County Sheriff's Department dispatcher added there were reports of either funnel clouds or tornadoes in the Becida area -- 15 miles southwest of Bemidji.

Neither set of reports were confirmed by official spotters on the ground, meaning they officially did not exist as of Thursday afternoon, according to the dispatcher and a NWS official.

Vince Godon, a NWS meteorologist in Grand Forks, N.D., confirmed Thursay that a tornado warning was issued for Hubbard County on Wednesday -- meaning that radar had detected something like a funnel cloud or tornado.

A warning is more severe than a watch, Godon said. A watch means only that conditions are favorable for a tornado.

Godon said the Weather Service had a spotter chasing Wednesday's storm through Hubbard County, but the person hadn't reported in as of Thursday afternoon. If that person confirms the sightings, they could become official.

"We didn't take any reports (yet)," he said. "We're still waiting for our spotter."

Other residents of Hubbard County reported golf ball-sized hail from Wednesday's storm -- the second consecutive day of such big hail in the region.

Ted Shutter, who lives southeast of Bemidji in Frohn Township lost five cows to the storm.

About 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, a bull, three cows and a calf were all killed by a lightning strike.

"It's not a good deal. It's a little hard on the pocketbook," Shutter said. "But it beats a heart attack ... I guess."

A storm also rumbled through Clearwater and Beltrami counties Tuesday, producing hail to two inches in diameter.

The hail damaged hundreds of vehicles and even some houses.