Wind knocks down Vac Shack sign

The crime scene tape outside of Sara's Vac Shack is there because Mother Nature knocked down the large sign that is usually perched on top of the Cloquet Avenue business.

Lloyd Nohl, sales and purchasing manager (and husband to owner Sara McAuliffe), said they got a call from the Cloquet Area Fire District on Sunday, telling them that the sign was hanging down from the building. With the help of the CAFD bucket truck, they got the sign back on top of the building. Making lemonade out of lemons, Nohl said they are running a "crime scene sale," offering $100 off a new vacuum when a customer brings in a trade-in.

National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Schultz said the rain over the holidays was unusual, because the average temperature this time of year is about 20 degrees.

"This particular system had quite a bit of warm air associated with it," he said, noting that much of the Midwest saw temperatures around 40 or 50 degrees. "For the next week or so it looks like we'll be a little closer to average, certainly no above-freezing

temperatures."

Even with the rain, the Northland is well above average for the season in terms of snowfall, Schultz said. Since it started snowing in October, there's been over 56 inches of snow, mostly due to the Thanksgiving storms. The average for this time of year is almost 34 inches.