Lutsen resident Dick Nelson left his rain gauge unchecked for a couple of days last week, and he collected 7 inches of water in it. Usually, he said he would dump it daily and see how much rain came the next day. Sad to say, the rain kept on coming for the next day after this picture was taken. No word on how much rain Dick collected for the week.
Dick Nelson couldn’t believe his water gauge. It contained seven inches of rainwater.
“Seven inches. Can you believe it?” Nelson asked on Tuesday, November 29.
Convert that rain to snow, said Nelson, and that would make “a good five feet. Maybe more,” he exclaimed on the phone from his Lutsen residence.
While Nelson didn’t want five feet of snow dumped on us in a small amount of time, Lutsen Mountains would at least like the temperatures to fall below freezing so they can once again start to make snow. Enough snow was made to open a few runs in time for Thanksgiving, but much of that has been washed away. Still, skiers take heart, a few cold nights and some natural snowfall are all that is needed for runs to open again.
Nelson isn’t the only one surprised by winter’s brief retreat.
Winter came with a pounding fury and frightening flurry of snow less than two weeks ago. It took about 12 hours to blanket the Northland under a foot of snow in some places, but then it backed down, and a day later fall returned.
Instead of a white rabbit landscape, the ground is brown, wet and muddy, sloppy as a St. Bernard puppy’s kiss but not as cute.
The Co-op parking lot in Grand Marais has been flooded for two days. Even in the summer, it doesn’t stay under water that long.
Meanwhile, the rivers are once again high, and the water is moving fast. It feels like fishing for Rainbow can’t be far behind.
As far as the 10-day weather forecast, snow is coming. As of November 30, temps are supposed to be in the 30s during the day but colder at night with a chance of snow. That’s the way the forecast looks for the next 10 days: falling temps, lots of clouds, and some snow. Even a little snow will whiten the land and brighten moods as the gray of winter once again falls upon us.
Leave a Reply