On This Date in Minnesota History: July 4-5

July 4–July 5, 1999 – Straight-line winds “blew down millions of trees within the [BWCA], most in a line from Ely, Minnesota, to the end of the Gunflint Trail. Four hundred and seventy-seven thousand acres of wilderness were affected, or a little more than 40% of the total area of the BWCA. In some areas, such as around Ogishkemuncie and Seagull Lakes, nearly every mature tree was blown down. Sixty people in the [BWCA] were injured during the storm, and one person was killed when the victim drowned.”
http://bwcawiki.org/wiki/Fourth_of_July_Blowdown 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bwca_derecho.jpg