High winds knock down power poles, reduce visability in parts of MN

A live powerline lay across 3rd street in Minneapolis near the Metrodome late Wednesday afternoon, backing up traffic on the ramps off 35W. It was just the latest in a long line of mishaps triggered by wind gusts that reached over 50 miles an hour.

No one could cross the line as it was still live. As of 4:30 p-m, Xcel crews were said to be on the way, but no one could say when the road would be reopened.

Firefighters looking at today's weather forecast around the metro knew they would be in for a busy day. The morning commute hadn't even wrapped up before Ramsey's Fire Department got a call.

It took 5 departments and 70 firefighters 2 hours to knock down a fire the raced through 10 acres of marshland off of Armstrong Boulevard.

"The wind is our biggest enemy here and the wind just wasn't predictable here this morning," Fire Chief Dean Kapler said as crews were mopping up hotspots.

"We're still very very dry here. We're almost in drought conditions and with the strong winds today, it's a dangerous situation," DNR Regional Fire Manager Mark Wurdeman said.

High winds also created a dangerous situation in Minnetonka, where Dick Weber was loading flowers into a van around noon Wednesday. "We noticed that the telephone pole was starting to lean and all of the sudden we heard a couple more cracks and we took off running," he recalled. The pole snapped and landed inches from the van.

Weber owns Westdale Flowers with his wife, who called the aftermath "a mess." No one was injured, but without phones or power, and with Minnetonka Boulevard shut down for a stretch, the Webers had no other options than to shut down for the day.

High wind gusts snapped 3 power poles early Wednesday afternoon, triggering a power outage and shutting down a handful of businesses in Minnetonka.

It happened on the 15300 block of Minnetonka boulevard. The poles snapped below ground level and tipped into a parking lot. Live electrical lines snaked across the parking lot and over parked cars outside Weber's Westdale Flowers and Home and Garden center, New Horizon Daycare, and an office building. All were closed due to the dangerous situation.

As of 3 p-m, Minnetonka Boulevard was closed between Williston Road and Tonkawood while crews from Xcel Energy and Comcast worked to replace the poles and restring the lines.

Late this afternoon, Xcel energy reported that nearly 5,900 customers were without power, likely due to wind problems.

It's not just the Twin Cities Metro being plagued by the wind. The National Weather Service is warning drivers in southern Minnesota that wind-blown dust has reduced visibility to less than two miles in places.

It says south winds are blowing steadily with gusts of over 50 mph, picking up dirt and dust from farm fields and other open areas. Those winds are also snapping off tree branches.

In Redwood Falls, the county highway department has been clearing debris from the roadways and fixing stop signs that been blown over. The department says visibility has fallen to less than a half-mile.

Local firefighters were working to contain a fire in Sanborn that involved a wood pile, straw and seven junked vehicles. Wind-blown embers from an old burn pile started it.

The National Weather Service also received reports of additional damage from Scott, Washington, and Watonwan Counties. Those reports detailed trees and limbs knocked down by the gusting winds.

A combination of high winds, heat and low humidity will trigger dangerous wildfire conditions across parts of Minnesota today. Gusts of 40 to 50 miles an hour are likely.

Wind advisories are issued for the following counties; Anoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Chisago, Dakota, Douglas, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, LeSueur, Martin, McCleod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Nicollet, Pope, Ramsey, Redwood, Renville, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Stearns, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Waseca, Washington, Watonwan, Wright, and Yellow Medicine.

Those strong southerly winds will occur across the region today in advance of a low pressure system and cold front that is currently over the Dakotas. The strongest winds today are expected across south central Minnesota.

It will be a hot day with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s. A cold front will move slowly southeast across Minnesota and Wisconsin tonight and early Thursday. That front could trigger scattered showers and a few thunderstorms.