The storm packed a powerful punch.
On the Blaine-Lexington border there were multiple trees down at an office complex after a severe thunderstorm blew through the Twin Cities, wreaking havoc in its path.
“It was high winds,” said Matt Junker of Junker Tree Service. “Probably about 60 miles per hour straight line winds.”
The crew from Junker had a busy day clearing debris and downed trees at Chuck Ogden’s house in Lexington.
“It Just blew a large portion of this tree onto the house and deck,” Junker said. “That’s what we did this morning when we showed up. We kind of assessed the situation and removed it as safely as possible.”
“We called these guys last night and they were here this morning,” Ogden said. “Excellent job.”
Destructive storm
The storm came quickly and unleashed its fury on the home where Ogden and his family have been for 38 years.
“Straight lines right through this house,” Ogden said. “Right through that house.”
A neighbor’s tree fell onto Ogden’s house and another one was toppled in his backyard. A fence, deck and roof were destroyed.
“The roof was only a year old,” Ogden said. “I finished it last July with hail damage. So now we start all over again. We saw the forecast, but when we were looking at the radar the one that actually hit we didn’t see until all of a sudden it was red. That’s when the 60 mile an hour winds came and I mean it just went woosh, and it was done. Probably an hour later it was like this, sunny.”
It was definitely a rough night for Ogden.
“Yeah it was,” Ogden said. “It was a little tough.”
On a scale of one to five, this weather event ranked very high.
“I’d say it’s probably a three or four,” Junker said. “Certain areas probably a four. These 60 mile an hour winds can be very damaging…We’ll probably be here all week.”
Soggy days have been the norm this spring. According to Minnesota Climatologist Pete Boulay, between March 1 and June 4 the Twin Cities has received the fourth highest amount of rain ever in that time span.
