Two men drowned while attempting to assist children in a youth group on rough waters on Pokegama Lake. Winds gusted to over 40 mph at times during the afternoon, which was enough to generate 2 to 3 foot waves on the lake and overcome the two men.
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.
Two men drowned while attempting to assist children in a youth group on rough waters on Pokegama Lake. Winds gusted to over 40 mph at times during the afternoon, which was enough to generate 2 to 3 foot waves on the lake and overcome the two men. The wind measurment is from the Grand Rapids, MN automated weather observing system located at the airport.
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 Jun 28, 1:44 PM CST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
244 PM CDT SUN JUN 28 2009
.DISCUSSION...SFC LOW CENTER AT 18Z WAS MOVING THROUGH SW ONTARIO
WITH TIGHT SFC GRADIENT OVER THE FA...COUPLED WITH GOOD SHOT OF
CAA AND WNW TO 55 KTS AT H85...WITH MINOR MIXING...RESULTED IN A
WINDY DAY. BORDERLINE WIND ADVISORY...BUT MET IN THE TWIN PORTS
EARLIER AT KDLH AND KDYT. WILL DROP THE WIND ADVISORY AS CLOUD
COVER...AND LACK OF OPEN AREAS...HAS MADE AN IMPACT ON WIND
POTENTIAL. SCATTERED SHOWERS/SPRINKLES/DRIZZLE HAVE OCCURRED
OCCASIONALLY NORTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 2 IN NE MN.
MODELS ARE IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE MASS FIELDS THROUGH DAY 3
WEDNESDAY. WITH THE UPPER LOW MEANDERING INTO THE LOWER GREAT
LAKES...EMBEDDED PIECES OF SHORT WAVE ENERGY WILL PASS THROUGH THE
FA. ONLY MADE SOME MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO FORECAST ELEMENTS.
.EXTENDED...WED NGT THRU THE FLWG WKND...
THE MODELS ALL SUGGEST A CMPLX BLOCKING PATTERN OVER NOAM AND THE
ATLANTIC. THE RECENT LOW SLOLY RETROGRESSES...WITH SLOW WARMING OF
THE COLUMN...LINGERING CLOUDS FROM THE NORTHEAST...AND PERHAPS VERY
LIGHT SHOWERS MSTLY N OF DLH. AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE DAKOTAS TWD
HUDSON BAY WEAKENS AS ANOTHER UPPER TROUGH DROPS SOUTH FROM NWRN
CANADA TOWARD OUR AREA DURING THE WEEKEND...THE GFS IS STRONGER AND
FURTHER SOUTH WITH THIS. NEITHER MODEL BRINGS IN ANY MOISTURE.
BOTH MODELS PROMISE SLIGHT RIDGING AND AT LEAST A BRIEF AND WEAK
WARMUP TOWARD THE END OF THE COMING WEEKEND.
&&
.AVIATION...MVFR WITH LCL IFR IN SCT SHWRS N OF A TVF-HIB-DLH-HYR
LN THRUT NXT 36 HRS. TO THE S...VFR WITH 40 BKN AND ISOLD MVFR
IN SHWRS DURG NXT 36 HRS.
&&
POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DLH 51 64 46 63 / 10 20 10 10
INL 49 61 47 67 / 20 10 10 10
BRD 56 70 53 69 / 10 10 10 10
HYR 53 65 48 65 / 10 20 10 20
ASX 53 62 48 59 / 20 30 10 20
&&
.DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...NONE.
WI...NONE.
LS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT MONDAY FOR LSZ121-LSZ140-
LSZ141-LSZ142-LSZ143-LSZ144-LSZ145-LSZ146-LSZ147-LSZ148.
GSF/EOMHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 320 PM CDT SUN JUN 28 2009 MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-291030- 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- 320 PM CDT SUN JUN 28 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. LSZ121-140>148-291030- 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- 320 PM CDT SUN JUN 28 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT DUE TO BRISK WINDS OVER THE NEAR SHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. GSF MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/DULUTH (ALL LOWER CASE)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind, Southern Itasca | 2009-06-28 | 30 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Strong Wind, Southern Itasca | 2009-06-28 | 63 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, June 2009
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: 189160.