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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Snow adds up, but temps nosedive
Kayla Covington shovels snow in front of her family's Carlton Avenue home in Cloquet Monday. She's glad for the snow but not rising early during vacation days to move it.
Lon St. Arnold blows snow Monday at his mother-in-law's home in Cloquet.
A snowmobiler took advantage of snow-covered streets in Cloquet Monday.
Snow was piled up on Cloquet Avenue Monday and ready to be hauled away after an overnight snowfall of 10 inches. More snow came Tuesday and into Wednesday, just before a subzero blast of air this weekend.
"No parking" signs popped up as city crews tried to keep up with the snow this week.
Santa came through for winter sports fans. After back-to-back storms starting the night after Christmas - once he and the reindeer were safely back in the North Pole - there is now plenty of snow for cross country skiing, sledding and even snowmobiling.
The National Weather Service in Duluth estimated Carlton County got between 12 and 14 inches of snow this week, depending on where in the county. The folks at the Cloquet Forestry Center measured a total of closer to 10 inches, with a base of about 12.5 inches out in the open.
"I'm super pumped because I can snowmobile now," said Lon St. Arnold. "I'm excited for that."
St. Arnold was busy Monday morning snowblowing his mother-in-law's sidewalk and driveway along Carlton Avenue in Cloquet, trying to get ahead of the next storm, which arrived on Tuesday but dropped significantly less snow.
A few blocks down Carlton Avenue Monday morning, Cloquet seventhgrader Kayla Covington was struggling to shovel her family's front sidewalk. It was a family affair, with dad clearing out the neighbor's drive and her mother and others digging out their own drive.
Covington wasn't thrilled to be out of bed shoveling by 10 a.m., "but I am glad for the snow," she said.
Outdoor enthusiasts aren't the only ones who will benefit from the added snow cover, according to Lane Johnson of the Cloquet Forestry Center.
Farmers will appreciate it - as we are still in moderate-severe drought across much of northern Minnesota - and so will the critters.
"The snow cover we have now builds up the 'subnivean zone' - the space between the ground surface and the top of the snow," Johnson said. "This snow cover provides insulation and protection for burrowing wildlife, which includes a variety of small mammals. Ruffed grouse are also known to use snow for cover. With all the activity beneath the snow surface, the subnivean becomes the stage for all types of predator-prey interactions."
According to the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center website, when snow cover reaches 6 inches or more, the subnivean zone maintains a temperature at the ground surface around 32 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of the air temperature above the snow. Small mammals such as voles, mice, weasels and shrews live there, using connecting tunnels under the snow to travel, hunt and gather plant material.
Humans who didn't get out to play in the snow after this week's two snowstorms, however, might want to stay warm indoors this weekend, when temperatures are expected to plummet, according to the National Weather Service office in Duluth.
Meteorologist Jonathan Wolfe said temperatures Saturday and Sunday could hit between minus-15 and 20 degrees below zero, with windchill factors of minus-35 degrees.
"That's pretty cold, but not out of the realm of normal weather for this time of year," he said. "What was more unusual was getting snowstorms 18 hours apart, but that was because of a strong jet stream."
Temperatures will be back into the teens on Monday, when the high is predicted at close to 16 degrees. According to snowfall records, Duluth was still 2.7 inches below normal snowfall for this time of year as of Wednesday afternoon.
