Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SNOW PILES up on an imitation Copper Peak ski flying slide at a Lowell Street residence in Ironwood on Wednesday morning.
After a horrid November produced numerous snowstorms, the Gogebic Range has settled into a relatively normal winter.
In fact, January's snowfall of 21.6 inches in Ironwood was about half the long-term norm of 44.2 inches for the month.
The average temperature for January was 18.5 degrees, below Ironwood's long-term average of 20.3.
The National Weather Service station at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant off Cloverland Drive recorded 2.2 inches of snow for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
It snowed heavily after that off and on. The sun peeked out around noon, when the temperature was only 3.
The seasonal total of 143.1 inches is above the 110-year average of 126.8 inches through Feb. 4. The record winter's total for up to Feb. 4 was a whopping 234.9 inches in 1997, while the low mark of just 21.4 inches was set in 1902, according to statistics kept at the Marquette NWS office.
Wednesday's snow arrived with strong northwest gusts, from 14 to 24 mph, causing drifting and hazardous driving conditions and some accidents throughout the Gogebic Range.
The forecast calls for more snow on Friday and Saturday, but generally mild temperatures, with nothing below zero.
