29. Snow came to an end last night, sunny skies today but some arctic air for a few days.
I found a few more snowfall totals from NWS Duluth's local storm reports that finish off the lake-effect snow we had yesterday and overnight, I plotted them on this map (to the right). Mellen (central Ashland Co.) is located on the western edge of the Penokee Range and received a foot off the lake. Incidentally, Mellen also holds the state record of most rain in one day (11. 72 inches) on 24 June 1946 that resulted in massive flooding (I have a picture someplace). More state records can be found on my blog posting from Dec 5, 2007.
Sunny this morning, but high temperatures will only be in single digits.
I took this picture (to the left) from the bottom of my driveway this morning as I went down to shovel out the mailbox. The cloud types in this picture show some altocumulus undulatus mixed in with a little altostratus and a few puffs of cumulus. In general, the skies are mostly sunny this morning except these clouds to the east.
Snowfall Numbers here.
My storm total (17-19th) is 2.5 inches (producing a water equivalent of 0.17"), and there was a little blowing and drifting here at my house. So far, for the winter season, I have measured 58.745 inches total snow, while my current snow depth is 18.2 inches.
This second picture (to the left) is looking at the east side of the house from partway down the driveway. The trees on the left are some Ironwood while on the right are Canadian Hemlock. The snowblower hasn't been working but the plow came after I took this picture.
Two cold nights before a warm-up.
Wind Chill Advisories have been issued for all of Minnesota, and most of Wisconsin starting at 18:00 this evening until 12:00 tomorrow. By definition a wind chill advisory means wind chill values will reach between -25 and -34 degrees with a wind speed of at least 10 mph. At these temperatures skin can freeze within 30 minutes.
I put together the chart (to the right) using the NWS temperature forecast for my location and historical average temperatures.
After an arctic high pressure on Wednesday and early Thursday, a disturbance will cross the region on Thursday bringing some clouds and a chance for light snow. Behind that weak system our temperatures will rebound, and may actually rise above average, perhaps even above the freezing mark.
There is no date attached to this photo, but the year lines up with the state record of daily rain in Mellen. It is difficult to tell exactly which street this picture is showing, but I would guess that the photographer is standing at the intersection of Highways 77 and 13 looking south down 13 at the Bad River bridge. The river is usually 10 feet below the bridge and I have never heard of the river rising this high. The USGS used to have a recording station at this location but it was removed in September 1955. The drainage area above this point is 105 square miles and this elevation is at 1225 feet above mean sea level.
Sunny this morning, but high temperatures will only be in single digits.
Snowfall Numbers here.
Two cold nights before a warm-up. 
Mellen, Ashland Co., WI. 1946.