(Spirit Lake)– Wind gusting in excess of 50 miles-per-hour ripped through the region Wednesday knocking out power to some areas, ripping down signs and damaging trees.
A roof was peeled off a storage building just east of the Ready Mix plant in Spirit Lake shortly after 11:00 a.m. Debris was scattered across a wide area. Pieces of sheet metal got caught in some nearby power lines, knocking out power to abou 600 Alliant Energy customers for about a half-hour.
Jan Bowles, a spokesperson for the Spirit Lake Alliant Energy office, says a power pole at the corner of Jackson and Lake Street was sheared off…knocking out power to most of downtown Spirit Lake for about a half hour. A power outage was also reported on the city’s west side for a time. Power has since been restored to the affected areas.
The strong wind blew down a sign at the Gjerde used car dealership on highways nine and 71 in Spirit Lake. It came down on top of a car.
Occasional snow showers also moved through the area during the late morning…reducing visibility at times. There was no accumulation though as the snow melted as it made contact with the warm ground.
A peak wind gust of 54 miles-per-hour was recorded at the KUOO studios shortly before 1:00 p.m.
