Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Waves crash over the breakwall at Saxon Harbor Tuesday afternoon. The sun came out after a wet and dreary day, but the strong north wind responsible for monster waves on Lake Superior's south shore hadn't subsided.
IRONWOOD - Pouring rain turned to snow around noon Tuesday in Ironwood, whipped by strong winds off Lake Superior.
Less than a week after the peak of fall colors, the bottom fell out of the thermometer and the snow arrived with 35-degree temperatures around noon, with a windchill reading at that time of 29.
Wind gusts from the north across the Gogebic Range were estimated at 20 to 30 miles per hour, possibly stronger near Lake Superior, where the gales of November were a bit early.
It followed a Monday high reading of 63 degrees for Ironwood.
Any snow that fell Tuesday or overnight wasn't expected to stick around long because today's high temperatures was forecast at 44 degrees, with sunshine.
There's a chance of snow in the forecast from Friday through Monday.
There were widespread power outages Tuesday across the Upper Peninsula as storms and heavy winds moved through the area, downing trees.
Upper Peninsula Power Company said at one point 6,000 customers were without power in Marquette, Alger, Delta, Houghton and Keweenaw counties.
Gwinn, Au Train, Calumet, Hancock and K.I. Sawyer were hit hard.
The number of customers affected had been reduced to around 4,000 later on Tuesday morning.
A number of schools along the Lake Superior shoreline from Marquette to the east canceled classes Tuesday.
The Duluth-Superior area also experienced some power outages as wind advisories were issued along Lake Superior, including Bayfield and Ashland.
-Ralph Ansami
