Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters

On July 4, 1999, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), a bizarre confluence of meteorological events resulted in the most damaging blowdown in the region’s history. Originating over the Dakotas, the midsummer windstorm developed amid unusually high heat and water—saturated forests and moved steadily east, bearing down on Fargo, North Dakota, and damaging land as it crossed the Min...