Twenty years ago this summer, the Boundary Waters and other parts of northern Minnesota were impacted by what is forever known as the Boundary Waters Blowdown storm. On July 4, 1999, the storm roared through the region, impacting the wilderness area and lives of many thousands of people.

WTIP, the community radio station in Grand Marais, is looking back on the Blowdown storm in a series of commemorative features and interviews with those who experienced the Blowdown storm firsthand. We are sharing part of this series as a short track on the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast.

In part one of this WTIP original series, we hear from Grand Marias resident Cindy Carpenter Straub. Cindy was camped on Pine Lake on the eastern side of the BWCA during the Blowdown storm. And we hear from Mike Stewart, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service who was working the afternoon of the Blowdown.