Hurricane Force Wind Speed Clocked During Monday’s Storm

Monday's storm across the Northland brought heavy rain, flooding and some very strong wind speeds.

The storm was so intense it left thousands in the area without power. Portions of Canal Park shut down and the Aerial Lift Bridge closed temporarily before reopening later in the evening. This shouldn't be too surprising if you were in the area at the time!

Winds played a big role in these shutdowns as we saw gusts between 40 to 60 mph across the region. The National Weather Service Duluth shared a graphic on their Facebook page detailing these wind speeds. Check it out below:

The Blatnik Bridge even recorded a peak wind gust of 74 mph! Not only is that strong - that is hurricane force! The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale says that a sustained wind speed of 74 mph is the same as a category 1 hurricane.

Keep in mind, this scale uses sustained wind speeds. We didn't see sustained wind speeds like that here but we did get at least one recorded wind speed at that strong level - which is still very interesting!

Winds falling under a category 1 hurricane usually produce damage to homes, power lines and trees.