Severe weather, including a tornado, hits the Ponemah area

PONEMAH, MN - A tornado is reported to have touched town in the Ponemah area on the Red Lake Indian Reservation around 9 PM on Wednesday night. There are no reports yet of injuries or damages.

About 7 PM NOAA had issued a Tornado watch until 1AM Thursday, saying that conditions were favorable for the development of tornadoes this evening.

At approximately 8:50 PM Beltrami County Emergency Management stated severe weather is impacting northern Beltrami County. Very large thunderstorms have developed over Lower Red Lake and near Upper Red Lake. Areas impaced included the Red Lakes, Ponemah, Waskish and Kelliher areas. Strong winds and large hail were possible.

We expect continued severe weather this evening, currently additional storms are developing west of Beltrami County and moving to the east and northeast.

At about 9 AM several reports were received of funnel clouds and a tornado spotted in the Ponemah area by amateur photographers that were posted on Facebook.

Photographs by Red Lake and Ponemah residents.