Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SNOW IS removed from a parking lot along McLeod Avenue in Ironwood Monday at noon. The sunshine and a temperature of 47 at noon began melting the steep snow banks.
Temperatures in the 50s and sunshine across the Gogebic Range on Monday carved a substantial chunk out of winter's snow accumulation.
Ironwood posted a 55-degree reading by 3 p.m. The high for northern Wisconsin at that time was 57 at Arbor Vitae.
The melt-down won't last for long, however, as the National Weather Service predicts a Wednesday high for Ironwood at 13.
Although Ironwood recorded a high of 40 for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Monday, the snow didn't melt much on Sunday because it was mostly cloudy.
The average high for March 10 is 33.
The snow was still two feet deep Monday monring at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant off Cloverland Drive in Ironwood, the official NWS weather station.
The record snow depth for March 10 in Ironwood is 44 inches set in 1916.
The city of Ironwood continued to receive reports of customers without water and crews worked through the weekend on breaks, as the frost has driven eight feet deep or more across the Gogebic Range,
A 7:30 p.m. Saturday complaint was received that as workers were thawing a water line at a Norrie Street residence, an electrical meter socket backfired and charred the siding of the unoccupied home.
There was no fire, but city workers later discovered some insulation in the basement had started on fire.
The owner of the house, who lives in Wauwatosa, Wis., was to be notified.
Let water run
Ironwood and Hurley water customers who are on the let-run list are advised to keep their water running until further notice.
"With the warmer weather, some residents are shutting their water off, thinking it is safe to do so, but it is not," said Hurley Mayor Joseph Pinardi.
It may take up to two months for the frost to leave the ground and water lines could still freeze when water is shut off.
Those on the let-run list are advised to keep water flowing at about a pencil's thickness.
The city of Ironwood received 14 customer reports about water line freeze-ups on Monday, according to city utilities director Bob Tervonen.
Any questions should be addressed to Ironwood offices, 906-932-5050; Hurley city offices at 715-561-4715, or the Hurley garage at 715-561-2160.
