An autumn storm hit the Northland and brought strong winds, driving rain and some snow. The hardest hit area was the western end of Lake Superior, where winds gusting over 60 mph caused tremendous waves to crash on to shore.
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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.
An autumn storm hit the Northland and brought strong winds, driving rain and some snow. The hardest hit area was the western end of Lake Superior, where winds gusting over 60 mph caused tremendous waves to crash on to shore. The crashing waves and storm surge, aided by an elevated water level of Lake Superior, caused considerable damage to Duluth’s Lakewalk and flooded Duluth’s Canal Park. Traffic was restricted when South Lake Avenue was flooded at the entrance to the aerial lift bridge. There was also major damage to Duluth’s Brighton Beach with damage to the road and major erosion to the shoreline as well as a tremendous amount of debris that was strewn across the park from the powerful waves. The high winds, heavy rain and strong storm surge also caused some county roads to flood along the north shore of Lake Superior and in downtown Grand Marais. Numerous trees and branches were blown down across the Northland, with the hardest hit areas along the north and south shore where winds were the strongest. Many areas lost power. The winds increased during the evening of October 9th with northeast wind gusts reaching over 30 mph. By morning winds gusts were near 50 mph at the Duluth Airport. The winds remained gusty in the 35 to 50 mph range all day and decreased to below 30 mph after 7:00 pm. Some highest wind gusts include 86 mph from the Canadian freighter Algowood off the north shore near Castle Danger, 64 mph and 20 foot waves from the Canadian ship the CSL Assinibione as it was anchored near Duluth, 55 mph in east Duluth, 52 mph at Glensheen Mansion and 46 mph at the Duluth Airport. All of these highest gusts were recorded the morning of October 10th. At 10 am on the 10th, the Areal Lift Bridge in Duluth’s Canal Park recorded a steady wind from 40 to 45 mph and 5 to 9 feet waves. Later that afternoon waves were 10 feet in the ship canal. The storm was caused by a strong low pressure area that developed in the Texas Panhandle on October 9th. By Wednesday, October 10th, the center of the low was over far southern Minnesota while high pressure as situated across much of Canada. Temperatures to the north of the low were in the 40s and south of the low they were in the 70s. This strong gradient in temperature and pressure helped create the strong northeast winds that blew across Lake Superior. The long fetch and the high Lake Superior water level contributed to the high waves and storm surge. Lake Superior levels were almost a foot higher than October normal. By Thursday, October 11th, the low’s center was over eastern Lake Superior which caused the winds to become northwesterly and calmed the Lake Superior waves. Heavy rainfall was also observed with this storm, leading to some minor flooding in northwest Wisconsin.
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 Oct 9, 3:02 PM CST, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Max gust recorded at station KSUW, the Superior Airport. The high winds toppled trees and caused power outages. One large pine tree fell on a house in Superior and caused significant roof damage to the home.
Water was covering parts of County Highway E near 4 Corners Store Road and the Marengo River crossing, leading to County Highway E being closed between County Highway C and US Highway 63.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, October 2018
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 789921, 789959.