Top Wind Gusts Recorded In Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin Today

The new week got off to a pretty blustery start, as some pretty strong winds blew across Lake Superior.

All of Western Lake Superior was under a gale warning on Monday morning, with areas along Minnesota's North Shore and the Wisconsin South Shore being put under wind advisories.

The far northeastern part of Minnesota, including areas like Grand Marais and Grand Portage, was even under a high wind warning as strong winds and powerful waves battered the shoreline.

Now that things have calmed considerably, we have a recap of the top wind gusts recorded during the windiest part of the day today. Top wind gusts reached up to near 70 mph at times!

What are gales?

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I mentioned that there was a gale warning for Western Lake Superior this morning. What exactly does that mean?

Being that many people hear about a windy November day and think of the phrase "Gales of November", popularized by the Gordon Lightfoot song about the Edmund Fitzgerald. How fast are gale-force winds, though?

The National Weather Service explains that gale-force winds are 39-54 mph, though in order to officially be considered gales, those wind speeds need to be sustained for a period of time.

What were the peak wind gusts for Monday?

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According to the National Weather Service, these were the top wind gusts recorded in a number of towns across the Northland:

69 mph - Silver Bay, MN

63 mph - Blatnik Bridge (Duluth-Superior)

60 mph - Bay of Grand Marais

57 mph - La Pointe, WI

52 mph - Devil's Island, WI

51 mph - Chisholm-Hibbing Airport

51 mph - Duluth International Airport

50 mph - Cook, MN

49 mph - Grand Marais, MN Airport

49 mph - Schroeder, MN

48 mph - International Falls, MN

48 mph - Hibbing, MN

47 mph - Brainerd, MN

47 mph - Herbster, WI

47 mph - Ashland, WI Airport

46 mph - Ely, MN

45 mph - Cotton, MN

45 mph - Port Wing, WI

45 mph - Eveleth-Virginia Airport

45 mph - Hovland, MN

44 mph - Thompson Hill (Duluth, MN)

44 mph - Duluth Harbor

44 mph - Cloquet, MN Airport

42 mph - Saginaw, MN

42 mph - Cohasset, MN

26 Funny, Quirky, and Weird Minnesota Lake Names

With over 10,000 lakes, Minnesota is bound to have some lakes with odd names. With dozens of lakes with names like Mud Lake, Long Lake, Rice Lake, or Bass Lake, here are some less common and more interesting lake names in the state.

I'll admit, I am certain there are many funny or quirky lake names I missed, but here are some that I did find amusing.

Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper