On August 13, 2010 my neighborhood in Sartell was hit by near-hurricane force straight-line winds. I was surprised that the storm sirens were not activated, especially in view of the fact that sirens were sounded at least twice for lesser weather events earlier this summer.

Storm damage two block from my home in Sartell, Minn., Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. (Photo: Matt Immelman, age 13)

—————————————————————

Storms Topple Trees, Turn Over Truck

By Dave Unze
St. Cloud Times
Aug. 14, 2010

Excerpts

Another wave of severe weather rumbled through the St. Cloud area Friday afternoon, downing power lines and trees and scrambling rescue personnel.

No serious injuries were initially reported as sheets of rain, high wind and some hail pelted the area. Trees were snapped off and uprooted, closing some roads for hours, and there were widespread reports of downed power lines. …

Stearns County Road 1 at Pine Point Road was closed to traffic heading north to County Road 5 because dozens of trees had fallen on the road. After the storm moved through, front-end loaders were pushing broken pine trees into ditches to clear the road.

There were no injuries reported from the Friday afternoon storm, said Marv Klug, Stearns County Emergency Management Director.

Most of the damage reports were for downed power lines and trees, he said. …

Full story

————————————————

St. Cloud Times photo gallery

Everett Balko observes damage from strong storms near Little Rock Lake. (Photo credit: Dave Schwarz / St. Cloud Times)

WCCO video links

Sartell storm damage

Rice storm damage

KARE 11 video

——————————————————————————

Central MN Storm Map: Where is the Damage?

Kevin Hurd of CentralMNStories.com has a map with clickable markers to view photos of storm damage at marked locations.

——————————————————————————

Supercell Near Stanley, North Dakota

Storm’s a brewin’ — A large storm formation moves over farmland between the towns of Ross and Stanley, N.D., on July 12, 2010. A tornado was reported to have touched down for a few minutes. (David Samson / The Fargo Forum via AP)

This storm stopped an eastbound Amtrak Empire Builder train I was traveling 0n dead in its tracks for more than an hour as we waited for the storm to pass. Below is a photo taken from the train.

Supercell west of Stanley, N.D., as seen by train from the eastbound Amtrak Empire Builder, July 12, 2010. (Photo: Aubrey Immelman)

———————————

8/18/2012 Update

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
529 PM CDT WED AUG 18 2010

…DOWNBURST WIND DAMAGE CONFIRMED IN NORTHEASTERN STEARNS COUNTY AND NORTHWESTERN BENTON COUNTY FROM AUGUST 13TH…

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FROM THE WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE IN CHANHASSEN DETERMINED THAT A DOWNBURST CAUSED SUBSTANTIAL TREE DAMAGE IN PORTIONS OF STEARNS AND BENTON COUNTIES ON FRIDAY AUGUST 13TH.

EVENT…DOWNBURST

ESTIMATED WIND SPEED…WIDESPREAD 60 MPH WINDS WITH POCKETS OF WIND BETWEEN 80 AND 90 MPH. AN 81 MPH WIND SPEED WAS MEASURED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF LITTLE ROCK LAKE APPROXIMATELY THREE MILES EAST OF RICE. THE WIND SENSOR WAS ATTACHED TO A TOWER THAT WAS BLOWN OVER WHEN THE WIND SPEED REACHED 81 MPH.

LOCATION…DAMAGE OCCURRED IN EXTREME NORTHEASTERN STEARNS COUNTY AND IN NORTHWESTERN BENTON COUNTY…ESPECIALLY NEAR THE CITY OF RICE.

TIMING…WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY BETWEEN 3:05 PM AND 3:15 PM.

DAMAGE…EXTENSIVE AND WIDE SPREAD TREE DAMAGE FOUND WITH THOUSANDS OF TREES DOWN. STRONG WINDS IN THE AREA WERE SUSTAINED FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. NO EVIDENCE OF TORNADOES WAS FOUND.

KRAUSE/DEVINNY

—————————————————

4/30/2011 — Related interest

Tuscaloosa tornado: Before and after satellite images show path of tornado’s destruction (New York Times, April 29, 2011) — Satellite images taken by GeoEye the day after storms blasted through the south show a nearly straight line path of devastation, most likely from one tornado, stretching at least 10 miles. Use the slider and zoom tools to compare images taken before and after the tornado. … Access interactive tools to view

Tornado victims save what they can from homes April 29, 2011 after they were destroyed by a powerful tornado in Pleasant Grove, Ala. (Photo credit: John Bazemore / AP)

—————————————————

5/2/2012 — Related interest

The leading edge the storm passed over St. Joseph and the western edge of St. Cloud before heading toward Sartell, as seen here from Amblewood Drive and Glenview Court Tuesday, May 1, 2012. (Photo credit: Jason Wachter / St. Cloud Times)

Heavy rain, hail pounds Central Minnesota (St. Cloud Times, May 2, 2012) — Heavy rains, wind and hail pounded parts of Stearns, Benton and Sherburne counties Tuesday evening. A severe thunderstorm moved into Central Minnesota about 5 p.m. dropping heavy rains, hail as big as a golf ball and some tornadoes. No touchdowns were reported but spotters said they saw funnel clouds and the National Weather Service said the weather was ripe for them to appear. … In Sartell, pea-size, quarter-size and some golf-ball size hail was reported. Pinecone Road near 2½ Street flooded in the heavy rain. … Full story

————————————————

Related report on this site

Severe Storm Hits St. Cloud, Minnesota (July 3, 2011)

Street flooding in Sartell, north of St. Cloud, Minn.
Click on photo for larger image

——————————————————————————————————

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — August 14, 2009

Bachmann Plays Victim … Again

One year ago today, I reported that Michele Bachmann was at it again, making false or outrageous claims in the national media and then playing the victim by leveraging her disingenuousness, incendiary rhetoric and political paranoia into campaign cash.

———————————————————————————————————

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — August 14, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day 31

Two years ago today, on the 31st day of my 2008 campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I took a one-day break from my Sixth District walking tour to rest my feet and catch up on administrative matters and correspondence while tracking international developments relevant to my campaign focus on national security — specifically, the Russian invasion of Georgia and the emerging threat of female suicide bombers in Iraq.

Iraqi police remove a suicide vest from an Iraqi girl in Baquba in this handout photo from the Iraqi police taken on Sunday. (Photo credit: Reuters)