Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood — The western Upper Peninsula will experience a large low pressure front this weekend but not with the same severity as in Minnesota and North Dakota.
The center of the system brought the worst weather on Thursday and Friday to western Minnesota, the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Southern Manitoba, said Steve Gohde, the observing program leader and hydrologist at the National Weather Service office in Duluth. Some of the cold air from that system is moving north east and the Gogebic Range will be among the last areas to feel the effects, he said.
“The best chance for snow fall will be Saturday after midnight and even then it will be just general snow showers with a light accumulation of less than a tenth of an inch every six hours,” Gohde said. “The storm total could be two inches and that is over a long period of time.”
Air temperatures will drop below freezing overnight Saturday and Sunday and into Monday, he said. That could mean that snow may accumulate in grassy or colder areas but is not likely to stick to road surfaces, he said.
“There is going to be some slick spots locally and drivers should start thinking about those places that get icy in the shady spots,” he said.
It’s only been five months since the end of last winter but people tend to have short memories about driving in snowy and icy conditions, he said.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a high of 38 degrees on Saturday with scattered snow showers before 2 p.m., following by scattered rain turning to snow after 8 p.m. Winds will be 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
More rain and snow showers are likely overnight Saturday into Sunday, with less than one-inch of snow accumulation possible. On Sunday morning snow showers are likely before 10 a.m., followed by rain after 11am., and scattered rain and snow showers continuing overnight into Monday.
Monday should be mostly cloudy, with a high near 43 degrees and a low of around 32 degrees. There is a chance of snow showers before 9 a.m. Tuesday, with a chance of rain and snow showers until 11 a.m., and rain showers after 11 a.m.
