First snow brings heavy, wet blanket

By MEGAN HUGHES

news@yourdailyglobe.com

Winter weather hit the Northwoods on Monday, with snow and ice causing power outages, slick roads, and cancellation of schools.

Chris Ouellette, a spokesperson for Xcel Energy, told the Globe Monday afternoon that 2,300 individuals had lost power in the Ironwood and Bessemer area due to the storm and that crews had been working on restoring the power since that morning. Ouellette said Tuesday afternoon that power was restored to all customers by 8:30 Monday evening.

Ironwood, Bessemer, Wakefield-Marenisco school districts cancelled school on Monday, as did Gogebic Community College.

The storm officially brought 11.6 inches of snow to Ironwood over two days, as measured for the National Weather Service at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Facility - 7.2 inches for the 24-hour period ending 7 a.m. on Monday, and 4.4 inches through 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

Greg Michels, a forecaster from the National Weather Service in Marquette, said they also had a report of 13.2 inches snow elsewhere in Ironwood, as well as 18 inches in Gile, Wisconsin, and 8 inches in Paulding.

Michels said the snow was lake effect snow.

Michels expects that the majority of the snow will melt off later in the week, as temperatures warm up once again.

"One thing we have going for us is that the ground is still warm," said Michels.

Looking forward into the weekend, Michels said temperatures are predicted to rise into the 60s, and some rain could be seen late Sunday.

The heavy, wet snow brought quite a bit of moisture. The 11.6 inches of snow measured in Ironwood included 2.05 inches of precipitation, bringing the total for the month to 3.52 inches. Ironwood had received nearly an inch of rain from Wednesday, Oct. 12, through Sunday before the snow began.