Following the extreme cold, it didn’t take long for the Grand Marais harbor to form a thin coat of ice. While it is not remotely safe to walk on, in 2013 the harbor froze over enough so that people ice fished for a short period of time, with several nice catches of lake trout reported. This picture was taken Wednesday, December 27, a day that saw the temperature warm up to a balmy zero. An oddity was that no birds were seen anywhere around the harbor.
On Christmas Day, a day when you never want to get coal in your stocking, a little extra coal to burn in the fireplace or woodstove might not have been a bad thing to add to the fire.
Christmas Day saw temperatures drop to minus 17F on Bernice Howard’s outside thermometer. Officially, the low temperature for Grand Marais was 18 below recorded at the Grand Marais airport.
At Pike Lake, Hal and Deidre Kettunen saw a low of minus 29F. Quite a few thermometers across Cook County had readings between 20 and 30 below zero on Christmas.
But low temperatures were only half of the equation. A robust arctic wind whistled in from the north, sweeping down the Sawtooth Mountains like a bully, pushing everything movable out of its way. It was so cold the National Weather Service cautioned those going outside not to leave any skin exposed for longer than 10 minutes for fear of getting frostbitten.
With the relentless gusts, the National Weather Service said the wind chill was 40 to 50 degrees below zero, and weather advisories were posted across the region through Wednesday, Dec. 27.
Not far from Pike Lake the temperature fell to 29 below zero on Christmas Day. It was cold enough so some vehicles wouldn’t start, but not cold enough to slow down Santa’s reindeer.
The day after Christmas was even colder. Vehicles groaned and moaned, whined and growled before they would start. If they would start at all. Steam rose from Lake Superior in shivering, ghostly waves, hovering like the breath exhaled from Santa’s reindeer who the night before were spotted by radar dashing from rooftop to rooftop.
The frigid arctic air hung over the region like a thin, patchy threadbare blanket through Wednesday. Temperatures are going to warm up, the National Weather Service promised, but expect below average temperatures for some time to come. Highs are supposed to be in the single digits during the day, with below zero temperatures painting frost across your windows at night. It looks like winter is here to stay. Time to play tic tac toe on the windows until warmer temps are here and sledding, snowman making, cross country skiing, skating and snowshoeing will be safe and fun to do again.
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