Ralph Ansami/Daily Globe count
THE WEST branch of the Montreal River flows ice-free under U.S. 2 in Kimball, Wis., Friday afternoon, a rare sight for late January. Temperatures reached the upper 40s on the Gogebic Range as winds of 20 miles per hour gusted to 30 mph, causing some drifting and melting on a sunny day that felt a lot like spring.