REGIONAL— A powerful line of thunderstorms moved through the area Tuesday evening, downing trees, causing some damage to buildings and knocking out power to thousands of residents in northern St. Louis and Lake counties. A report of a capsized boat with 3-4 people on board on Lake Vermilion was not verified according to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. A search of the area using sonar along with a search of shoreline in the vicinity found no sign of a missing boat and there have been no reports of missing people.

The storms moved up from the south, reaching the Lake Vermilion and Ely areas around 7 p.m., when strong wind gusts along the front caused most of the damage. According to Justin Schultz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth, temperatures in the mid-80s and lots of moisture in the atmosphere provided plenty of fuel to spark the strong storms. Schultz said central and northern St. Louis and Lake counties appeared to be the hardest hit, based on damage reports, and he said the extent of the damage suggested wind gusts likely in excess of 50 miles per hour.

Power outages were widespread across the region, even in town. Tower, Soudan, and Ely all reported outages of an hour or more. In rural areas, about 1,700 Lake Country Power residents remained without service as of Wednesday afternoon. Most of the outages were centered around Embarrass, Lake Vermilion, Ely, Babbitt, and Elbow Lake. At one point on Tuesday evening, at least 7,000 Lake Country Power customers were without power due to the storm.