Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Last week saw rounds of thunderstorms over all the Upper Peninsula.  Heavy rains fell out east on Monday and over the west on Wednesday.  The far west end of Lake Superior really got hit hard.  The only area that seemed to miss out on the big rain was the central U.P., especially around Iron Mountain.  June is often a time of significant rainfall.  It’s reflected in the monthly rainfall total which is among the wettest months of the year.  It got too wet on the west end of the U.P. and adjacent portions of Wisconsin 66 years ago.

 A series of severe thunderstorms accompanied by torrential rains wreaked havoc on the Gogebic Range and adjacent parts of northwest Wisconsin in late June 1946.  The onslaught of storms began late June 23, accompanied by strong winds, hail and severe flooding.  By early June 25, numerous roads and bridges in the area were washed out, homes flooded and communities isolated. 

Bessemer suffered extensive damage during the first wave of thunderstorms.  A portion of the grandstand at the high school athletic field was torn off by high winds, hurled high above the tree tops and deposited on a home close by.  Portions of the home’s roof caved in, leaving a mass of lumber partially covering the residence; parts of the roof were also strewn about the yard.  Huge trees were split and snapped off near the roots.  Lightning damaged chimneys and started fires. 

The worst damage and disruption came from flooding.  Six inches of rain poured down in Ironwood over 48 hours, most of it occurring in less than 8 hours overnight.  Wakefield residents could not recall a harder rain in such a short period of time.  Nearly 3.5 inches of rain fell in less than an hour and a half.  

The torrential rains pushed rivers and streams in the area over bank full.   In Ironwood, the west end of Cedar Street in the “flats” district was inundated by the Montreal River.  A woman had to be rescued from her home at the edge of the river and several other houses on the street could only be reached by boat.  The Black River became obstructed with numerous large trees and logs felled by the storm.  Its swift current carried three boats moored at the harbor out into Lake Superior.  Sport and commercial fishermen suspended operations until the water subsided for fear the strong current would prevent them from returning to harbor. 

Bridges and culverts were washed out all over the Gogebic Range into adjacent areas of Wisconsin.  A bridge on M-28 at Kenton washed out, forcing traffic to take the long detour to U.S.-2.  The North Bessemer farming community was isolated when the last round of heavy rain pushed the waters of the Black River and Powder Mill Creek over the bridges on roads leading into the settlement. 

In the town of Bessemer, raging flood waters carried away a garage on the north side.  A man went to the aid of a neighbor during flash flooding when water from a nearby creek overflowed the banks and had begun entering the neighbor’s house.  The man was swept off his feet by the current and had to swim across the lot. 

In Wisconsin, residents of Odanah were evacuated to the surrounding hills as back waters of the White River lapped two to three feet high on all buildings in town.  Ashland was virtually isolated as both roads and rails were inundated by flood waters.  With rail service at a complete standstill, mail delivery reverted to methods employed during the pioneer era.  First-class mail was trucked from Ironwood to the Black River harbor, loaded on a fishing boat and dispatched to Ashland, Wisconsin.  Then outgoing mail was loaded on the boat for the return trip.  It took a week for rail and mail service to get back to normal.  The flooding rains were confined to a relatively small area of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.  Farther east, Marquette actually registered below-average rainfall during June 1946.