How to make winter go away

Spring sports enthusiasts may have to wait just a little longer than normal to see their favorite team on the field or track. Or will they?

February brought record snowfall for much of the region and the start of March had colder than average temperatures - not a good combination to get rid of the snow cover that blankets fields across the region. However, many of the ball teams have taken matters into their own hands over the past two weeks.

In Cloquet, that meant the city's hands, or rather, the rotating augers of the city's giant Sno-Go machine.

Braun Park was a beehive of city machinery Monday morning, with the Sno-Go blowing giant plumes of snow off two softball fields, eliminating 3-4 feet of snow from the outfield. At the same time, city dump trucks rotated through the parking lot, ferrying loads of snow out of the parking lot as quickly as the plow could fill the trucks. By afternoon, the outfield grass was already beginning to show after temperatures rose to almost 40 degrees.

In past years, the Cloquet program has played games at home by as much as two weeks earlier than other programs that don't clear their fields. With a season already shortened by cold, spring rain and snow mix, it is vital to get as early a start as possible.

"With the warmer weather coming this week, clearing off the top layer couldn't have come at a better time," said Cloquet softball coach Ron Tondryk. "Even if we get sunny but cool days, just the sun beating down on the fields will thaw the ground out. I am hoping with no more snow that we might make the second week of April for our home game. I'd also like to give a huge thank-you to the city of Cloquet for coming out and blowing the snow off the field."

Some other Carlton County schools have hired people to clear their fields, by shoveling or doing whatever else they can, to help nudge a few days or perhaps a week of playing time more than those who wait for Mother Nature to act on her own.

One of the softball programs that does not clear their fields with any type of machinery is South Ridge, but that does not mean some type of effort won't be made.

"We have not cleared our fields because we have concerns about our irrigation system and if we could cause any damage," said South Ridge athletic director Tony Deleon. "Right now we have 3 feet of snow and our coaches intend to begin shoveling the infield later this week."

Some may wonder why one would waste time clearing fields when more snow could arrive any day. The answer to that question is pretty simple: Over the winter, the snowpack condenses on the ground and freezes and refreezes, causing denser icepacks as well as hardened layers of windswept snow on the surface. That dense snow and ice takes longer to melt than any new fallen snow. The theory is: Get the packed snow and ice off the field and anything new that comes down will melt much more quickly than the snow that has been sitting for weeks and months.

Esko had cleared both its baseball and softball fields as of last weekend, and softball coach Huff Emanuel is excited about the chance to help move outside as soon as possible.

"Had we not cleared the fields last weekend, I don't think we would have been able to get on the fields until mid-April or maybe even late April," Emanuel said. "I guarantee we saved at least a month of time for our kids. Our field never has a lot of frost because of the way the field was built, but this is the first time I have seen where the baseball and softball fields have no snow on them and the football field and the track - which have turf - do have snow on them."

After clearing the Cloquet softball fields on Monday, the Cloquet snow removal crews headed over to Ed Mettner Field at the Athletic Park complex on 14th Street and did the same on the outfield for the Lumberjacks baseball field.

"The crews went over and blew the snow off the outfield, but the infield has sprinklers so they didn't want to blow the infield snow off," said Cloquet baseball coach Rick Norrgard. "I'm hoping we can be outside for our first game in three weeks, April 11."

The good news for the area teams is that temperatures are expected to rise to the upper 40s and lower 50s by the weekend and, more importantly, the thermometer is not expected to dip below freezing at night, allowing for snowmelt all day and all night long.

A quick survey of some of the area running tracks showed that most still have a good 1 to 2 feet of snow and will need the warmer weather to erase that and allow teams to get out and actually run on their turf.

At the Cloquet High School tennis courts, the team was combining strategy and brawn to get rid of the winter snow, by placing black mesh cloths over the snow on the courts, and digging trenches around the outside perimeter to give the water a path for runoff.

"Those teams and schools that have cleaned off their fields early will really have an advantage of getting in their home games," Emanuel said. "The spring season is short enough - why make it any shorter?"