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Winds knock out FF power
Published 11:10am Monday, June 13, 2011High winds buffeted Fergus Falls and Otter Tail County on Monday morning, leading to power outages around the city and a high wind warning from the National Weather Service.
The winds caused a tree to fall over near Lincoln and Broadway avenues just before 7 a.m., hitting a main power line and knocking out power to around 1,050 customers, according to Otter Tail Power. Power was restored to most customers after about 50 minutes.
“When we have high winds for an hour or more, that’s cause for us to have a warning,” said Bill Barrett, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Grand Forks, N.D. office. Barrett reported that wind gusts reached into the 60 mph range in the city.
The warning, which also affected Grant and Wilkin counties, was issued from 7 to 9 a.m., although some of the higher wind gusts happened before 7. The winds then moved east into Hubbard and Wadena counties.
As of 9:15 a.m., the Fergus Falls Public Works Department, said that besides the tree that fell, many branches were down throughout town, but no widespread tree damage was reported.
Winds were strong in the Pelican Rapids area as well, but no major damage was reported. Winds weren’t as strong to the east, and no damage was reported in the Battle Lake area.
Tags: weather
