Lightning caused a wildfire to breakout two miles south of Seagull Lake on the Gunflint Trail in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The fire was eventually called the "Cavity Lake Fire" and has been the largest fire in the area in one hundred years.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS DLH wrote it up.
Lightning caused a wildfire to breakout two miles south of Seagull Lake on the Gunflint Trail in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The fire was eventually called the "Cavity Lake Fire" and has been the largest fire in the area in one hundred years. The fire spread quickly and eventually consumed 31,830 acres. On July 16th, a front packing 50 mph winds fanned the fire, causing it to quadruple in size. By late July the fire was 65% contained. Many entry points and portages in the BWCAW were closed.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 13, 2:21 PM CST, 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 321 PM CDT THU JUL 13 2006 .DISCUSSION...A WEAK COLD FRONT OVER THE DAKOTAS WILL GRADUALLY PUSH INTO NORTHEAST MINNESOTA TONIGHT AND INTO WISCONSIN BY MORNING. AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY...ENOUGH INSTABILITY/FORCING EXISTS TO RESULT IN SOME THUNDERSTORMS WITH SOME POSSIBLY BEING SEVERE...F0R MORE INFORMATION ON SHORT TERM CONVECTIVE TRENDS PLEASE REFER TO EARLIER AFD. AS THE SYSTEM WORKS EAST A MCS MAY DEVELOP. POPS/QPF HAVE BEEN INCREASED ACCORDINGLY. AS FRIDAY BEGINS...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY STILL BE PRESENT IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND THEY MAY LINGER IN NORTH CENTRAL PORTIONS INTO THE LATE AFTERNOON. THE WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH OF THE AREA AND STALL FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING ONLY TO HAVE ANOTHER IMPULSE FORM OF THE TAIL END OVER THE DAKOTAS AND POSSIBLY CREATE ANOTHER CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION MAINLY OVER NORTH SECTIONS OF THE AREA ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND AGAIN ON SUNDAY NIGHT. AS FAR AS TEMPERATURES GO... THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION WILL DO LITTLE TO RELIEVE THE HEAT. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN IN THE 80S AND 90S FOR MOST OF THE AREA THROUGH DAY 7. && .POINT FORECAST TEMPS/POPS... DLH 66 90 64 91 / 50 10 10 10 INL 64 91 60 91 / 50 10 10 20 BRD 70 93 65 95 / 40 10 10 20 HYR 70 90 65 96 / 40 20 10 10 ASX 67 89 66 95 / 40 20 10 10 && .DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...NONE. WI...NONE. LS...NONE. TINGLER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 138 PM CDT THU JUL 13 2006 LSZ121-140>148-162-MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004- 006>009-141200- BAYFIELD TO OAK POINT WI-GRAND PORTAGE TO GRAND MARAIS MN- GRAND MARAIS TO TACONITE HARBOR MN- TACONITE HARBOR TO SILVER BAY HARBOR MN- SILVER BAY HARBOR TO TWO HARBORS MN-TWO HARBORS TO DULUTH MN- DULUTH MN TO PORT WING WI-PORT WING TO SAND ISLAND WI- SAND ISLAND TO BAYFIELD WI-OAK POINT TO SAXON HARBOR WI- OPEN WATERS OF LAKE SUPERIOR WEST OF A LINE FROM SAXON HARBOR WI TO GRAND PORTAGE MN-KOOCHICHING-NORTHERN ST. LOUIS- NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE-NORTHERN ITASCA-CENTRAL ST. LOUIS- SOUTHERN LAKE/LAKESHORE-SOUTHERN COOK/LAKESHORE-NORTHERN CASS- SOUTHERN ITASCA-SOUTHERN CASS-CROW WING-NORTHERN AITKIN- SOUTHERN AITKIN-CARLTON/SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS-PINE-DOUGLAS-BAYFIELD- ASHLAND-IRON-BURNETT-WASHBURN-SAWYER-PRICE- 138 PM CDT THU JUL 13 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA... NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT AREAS WEST OF A LINE ROUGHLY FROM INTERNATIONAL FALLS TO BRAINERD AFTER 4 PM. THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS... WITH A RISK OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WINDS TO 60 MPH. COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS THEN EXPECTED TO INCREASE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS NORTHERN MINNESOTA... WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR AND NORTHWEST WISCONSIN THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THE THREAT OF DIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH BY LATE EVENING. HOWEVER... AT LEAST A SMALL THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS IS EXPECTED ACCOMPANY AN EASTWARD MOVING THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WELL INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS... AHEAD OF AN ADVANCING COLD FRONT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING AND AGAIN SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING ACROSS THE NORTHLAND. THERE IS AT LEAST A SMALL CHANCE THAT SOME STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING. MILLER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, July 2006
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5534898.