Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Ironwood Chamber of Commerce Director Michael Meyer lights the community Christmas tree in front of a small gathering in Depot Park during Thursday's snowstorm, marking the beginning of the Jack Frost Festival. See Page 5 for more information.
SNOW FLIES from the shovel of Jerry Lehnartz on Nov. 18 after a snowstorm left cars buried in more than a foot of snow while plows struggled to open roads and parking lots through the rest of the weekend. Lehnartz, who lives on the south end of Ascherman Avenue in Wakefield, was cheerful as he completed his chore. "During the summer, I push this area (lawn mowing), and during the winter, I shovel, he said, adding, "It keeps me spry."
By MEGAN HUGHES
Ironwood - A heavy blanket of snow hit the Northwoods last week, as temperatures dropped below freezing for several days and lake effect snow fell.
The snow began falling heavily on Thursday, continuing into the weekend, with area schools closing on Friday due to the weather.
According to the National Weather Service, 19.8 inches of snow fell in Ironwood in the 24-hour period ending Friday at 7 a.m. Another 5.0 inches fell through Saturday at 7 a.m., followed by 2.1 inches through Sunday at 7 a.m.
For the season, there has been 48.0 inches of snow officially measured at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Facility in Ironwood, including 36.4 inches in November.
"We had a prolonged period of really cold air right over Lake Superior, and we also had a lot of light winds. During that period we had this surface trough that developed off and on, and would wave up and down Lake Superior," said Joe Phillips, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, "All those ingredients combined really allowed the formation of a number of things that we call meso-lows to develop, as well as outbreaks of sustained lake-effect snow showers."
"There was one night where Gogebic and Ontonagon counties got hit really hard by one of the meso-lows that had went onshore," said Phillips, "Snow amounts from that were pretty impressive."
Phillips said reports of snowfall elsewhere in the region varied for the event, including 16.5 inches in Wakefield, and between 5 and 12 inches in Ontonagon.
Looking forward into the week, Phillips said temperatures are expected to reach into the 30s, potentially as high as the low 40s. He said the temperature will by no means melt all the recent snowfall, adding there could be precipitation later in the week, including rain mixed with snow.
"There could be a couple of periods where snow could be possible," he said. "On Thursday, there is a system that is sort of building in. It is a little uncertain what time, when it will actually show up, but it is possible to see some rain in with those snow showers."
"I expect the snow in the Ironwood area will stick around through the rest of the winter, unless it raises substantially in temperature," he said.
