First, a transcript from one of the news clips on tonight's broadcast on Northland's NewsCenter:Whiteout conditions this afternoon in Duluth brought about many last-minute changes for Northlanders. As Joel Runck explains, it's the winter that just won't go away.
"This is absolutely insane," said John Kimiech, SMDC [St. Mary's / Duluth Clinic] lead groundskeeper.
Jack Frost refuses to leave. Power outages struck city wide as business owners scrambled for generators. Trees toppled and traffic lights blacked-out or were simply too snowy to read.The calendar says it's spring, but that doesn't mean Mother Nature has to play along.
"Today was supposed to be my wedding day, but I had to reschedule because of this nasty blizzard," said Amanda Duerr, who moved her wedding day to Saturday.
...As for transportation, snowplows and skid loaders seemed to outnumber cars and trucks this afternoon.Many city and county offices throughout the region were closed in the midst of the treacherous conditions.
With the white stuff falling groundskeepers wasted no time getting to the business side of things. "We started about 3:30 this morning, me and the other three groundskeepers here at SMDC [St. Mary's / Duluth Clinic] and we've been trying to keep the sidewalks open for our patients and visitors to come and go to the emergency room and see their loved ones in the hospital," said Kimiech.
If there's one thing to take away from all this... "I think it's kind of neat. It wakes people up about what we can have anytime of the year," said Bronikowski.
Second, two pictures from The Ashland's Daily Press.
The bottom is a Robin that looks a bit cold. Everyone watches for the first Robins as a sign of spring up here in the Northwoods. I saw one in Washburn on Thursday before the snowstorm hit. The early bird freezes his ass off?? Proof that it's okay to sleep in once-in-a-while :)