Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
FROST COVERS trees at the Gogebic Country Club golf course Wednesday afternoon, contrasting with the plush grass that grew before the cold weather arrived.
By RALPH ANSAMI
An ice and snow storm swept through parts of northern Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula Tuesday evening, causing scattered power outages through Wednesday.
The cold, wet weather was expected to continue through tonight.
The Superior and Bayfield areas started getting snow or freezing rainfall Tuesday night.
Rain turned to ice on the trees across the Gogebic Range by Wednesday morning as the thermometer hung around 32 degrees.
The snow and freezing rain caused many Minnesota and Wisconsin schools to cancel classes Wednesday.
In northern Wisconsin, Superior, Maple Northwestern, South Shore, Bayfield, Solon Springs, Drummond and Washburn schools all canceled classes.
The National Weather Service in Duluth had issued a winter storm watch that continued through this morning for Douglas and Bayfield counties, plus much of northeast Minnesota.
Participants in the Ojibwe Water Walk through Iron County made their way from Wisconsin 122 in Saxon early Wednesday morning to Hurley by around noon. Tribal members from the Bad River Indian Reservation accompanied soaked walkers in about a half-dozen vehicles. The march continued toward Watersmeet today.
Streams reached high levels across the Gogebic Range by Wednesday afternoon and many side roads flooded as the steady rain continued.
Parts of Saxon and Gurney were without power for extended periods beginning Wednesday morning. The Saxon Fire Department was paged out at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday for a downed electrical line on Sears Road, off U.S. 2.
There were other areas along U.S. 2 from Gurney to Ashland where the weight of the ice snapped tree branches and trees over lines.
Parts of the city of Wakefield were also without power on Wednesday.
There was a 70 percent chance of snow today for Ironwood, with cold winds out of the northwest and a high of 32 predicted.
After an early start to spring, the thermometer isn't forecast to reach 50 degrees again in Ironwood until next Wednesday.
The National Weather Service warned that another major storm system could hit Minnesota and Wisconsin Sunday and Monday, with the potential to bring several inches of snow and more ice.
