North Dakota In the pre-dawn hours of July 4, a band of
thunderstorms developed over far eastern
North Dakota.
Hector International Airport in northwest
Fargo recorded winds in excess of 58 mph (95 km/h) for 40 minutes and a maximum wind gust of . Many planes were damaged or overturned. The hangars suffered damage as well. The worst damage occurred farther south in West Fargo, North Dakota and in south central Fargo, North Dakota. Wind gusts in these areas were estimated at as high as . The storm caused $85 million in damage (1999 dollars) in the Fargo metropolitan area. Over 40,000 people were without power. Cars were overturned, roofs were severely damaged, and power poles were blown down.
Minnesota The derecho moved into
Minnesota and caused massive damage in
Cass,
Itasca, and
Aitkin Counties, at around $3 million. A semi-trailer truck was blown over on
U.S. Route 53 near
Canyon. One person was killed and 60 were injured as the derecho passed through the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and
Superior National Forest. People were there to enjoy canoeing and other recreation for the
Independence Day weekend. Straight line winds in excess of 90 mph (145 km/h) uprooted and snapped off trees in over 370,000 acres (1,500 km²) of the 1 million acre (4,000 km²) wilderness area. In total, more than 477,000 acres (1,930 km²) of forest was affected in the
Superior National Forest in a swath 30 miles (48.3 km) long and 4 to 12 miles (6.4 to 19.3 km) wide. It is estimated that 25 million trees were blown down in the BWCAW.
Ontario The derecho brought more damage when it crossed the border into
Ontario during the early afternoon hours of July 4. At its peak near
Thunder Bay, the winds were estimated to have been much stronger, around 100 mph (160 km/h) and it spawned some small
tornadoes. One small sailboat was overturned and two people were thrown into the cold waters of
Lake Superior. They were rescued by a nearby boater. The storm carved a path of destruction into the sparsely populated forested areas of northern Ontario. The
Canadian Pacific track between
White River and
Chapleau in northeastern Ontario was put out of service by fallen trees. Significant tree and property damage was recorded in
Timmins.
Quebec As it raced eastward at 62 mph (100 km/h), the system entered into western
Quebec in the
Témiscamingue region around 11:00 p.m. A gust of 65 mph (102 km/h) was reported at the automatic station of Angliers. There was also a tremendous amount of lightning associated with this derecho, with around 6,000 lightning strikes per hour. Another person in this derecho was killed at
Val-des-Lacs (V on the map) when a tree fell on the victim. A woman was injured when a tree crushed her car. After narrowly missing the
Ottawa area, the storm moved quickly into
Montreal (M on the map) around 3:00 a.m. heading southeastward toward Maine. Much damage was recorded in the Metropolitan area but the worst affected area of Quebec was farther along its path near Sherbrooke (S on the map) in the
Eastern Townships where a church was badly damaged, farm buildings were damaged and 2,000 trees were felled. Hydro-Québec reported that over 600,000 people lost power; some were without power for over a week.
New England The storm continued southeast and caused more damage in
New Hampshire and
Vermont, killing one more person, before finally dissipating in
Maine after 5:00 a.m. on July 5. ==Aftermath==