John Wheeler: Powerful 4th of July storm is remembered

FARGO — One of the most destructive and memorable storms to hit the Fargo area struck at 7:30 in the morning of July 4, 1999. A previously non-severe thunderstorm suddenly developed a strong downburst wind right over Fargo and Moorhead. At Hector Airport, the wind storm lasted for 38 minutes with winds measured as high as 91 mph. Damage in the Fargo area was estimated at $85 million, not adjusted for inflation, and several people were injured.

The storm then evolved into a powerful straight-line wind storm which moved rapidly northeast across northern Minnesota. With winds between 80 and 100 mph, the storm destroyed some 10 million trees in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Sixty campers in the BWCA were injured by the falling trees, and many had to be rescued by float plane. The storm continued across Ontario and Quebec before finally weakening over western Maine on July 5. The storm is known in weather lore as the “Boundary Waters Blow Down.”

John Wheeler is Chief Meteorologist for WDAY, a position he has had since May of 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South, in Louisiana and Alabama, and cites his family’s move to the Midwest as important to developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and achieved a B.S. degree in Meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked about a year at WOI-TV in central Iowa before moving to Fargo and WDAY..