The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

Health officials encourage Otter Tail County residents to take safety precautions today, with temperatures predicted to reach into the lower 90s. The heat index could reach 103, with winds of 14 to 16 mph and gusts as high as 20 mph. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous [...]

High 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 [...]

Property owners along lakeshores in eastern and central Otter Tail County continue to perform cleanup following severe storms that struck many areas the evening of Memorial Day. Damaged were dwellings, docks, boats and pontoons. Among the hard-hit areas was Big Pine Lake, east of Perham, where several trees and branches were toppled. Other hard-hit areas [...]

FARGO — Xcel Energy Inc. says it has restored electricity to almost everyone who lost power in late-Monday storms that tore through eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Spokeswoman Bonnie Lund tells The Forum newspaper that the exceptions are customers who need repairs at their home before the power can be turned back on. About [...]

Funnel clouds spotted south of Fergus Falls and ominous National Weather Service reports prompted Fergus Falls Police to sound the emergency sirens Monday evening, Captain Steve Adams said. The sirens were fired about 9 p.m. on Monday, right after Fergus Falls Police received an NWS teletype reporting tornadic storms moving east between mile markers 50 [...]

AP and Journal reports A downtown building received damage on Monday night after being struck by lightning. The building on 216 and 218 West Lincoln Ave., which houses Curl Up and Dye, Lake Country Graphics and a few apartments on the second floor, was hit by lightning at 9:45 p.m. Several bricks from the top [...]

While spring is always a season for outdoor chores in Minnesota, many people in the area have noticed that their lawn mowers have been working overtime this May. This is due to the colder weather and rain in the area this spring, said master gardener Bev Johnson. “The combination of these things makes the grass [...]

Warm weather lovers in Fergus Falls have had little to be happy about in 2011, as snow and cold temperatures just haven’t gone away. The late snow is also digging in to the city’s snow removal budget, and Public Works Director Anne Martens said that the budget will likely be stretched to its limit by [...]

Work was done on Friday to temporarily restore all of Fergus Falls’ severe weather sirens to working order after a Thursday test revealed that six of the eight sirens did not go off when signaled. “They are up for the weekend,” said Captain Steve Adams of the city’s police department. “If we need them, they’ll [...]

After a long winter, residents in Otter Tail County savored temperatures of 70 degrees Tuesday in many areas of the county. While somewhat warm for this time of year, the 70-degree mark fell 13 degrees short of the all-time high temperature of 83 degrees on April 12. That reading dates back to 1931, in Fergus [...]