Area still below normal for season’s snowfall
With 5.2 inches of snow falling on Dec. 25, a new record for the snowiest Christmas Day was set this year for the International Falls area.
In addition, a near record was set for Christmas Eve snowfall in this area, according to meteorologist Kevin Kraujalis of the National Weather Service in Duluth. The night before Christmas saw 4.5 inches of new snow arriving in Borderland, making it a classic sleigh ride for Santa Claus.
Overall, one storm system intermittently delivered a total of 14 inches of wet, heavy snow; the kind the NWS calls “heart-attack snow,” according to Kraujalis. Skies opened over the area throughout a three-day period beginning around 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve (which included freezing rain on Christmas Day) until Sunday morning. Clouds then broke about 11 a.m.
That brought the total area snowfall for December to 21 inches, far above the normal monthly value of 12.2 inches. But the Borderland area is still below the accumulative average for the season at 25.8 inches to date, with normal snowfall at this point set at 27.9 inches. Without the big holiday dump, the area would be far below normal, Kraujalis said.
The previously set record for the snowiest Christmas Day in the Falls area was in 1985 when 4 inches of snow blanketed the holiday.
Mother Nature cut a swath with Christmas snow all the way from Texas up into Canada. But she gave more to some than others. The Duluth area received some of the large storm system’s heaviest snowfall.
Duluth received 24.4 inches of snow for Christmas, making the storm the fifth-largest in Duluth history, according to Kraujalis. At times, the storm was even moving east to west within the city, Kraujalis said. And while Duluth was still digging out Monday morning, Kraujalis said it was fortunate that the snow was a heavy “snowman” weight, preventing dangerous drifting that comes with blowing snow. “But it’s heavy to shovel,” Kraujalis said, adding that hand removal of this type of snow is more dangerous to health conditions.
Kraujalis also reported that road conditions in Minnesota have improved greatly over the last 48 hours, including Interstate 35 and Highway 53. He said the forecast calls for colder temperatures, with Arctic airs moving in and out of the region.
Local roadways and the airport
The snow storm caused Falls International Airport to close down on Christmas Day through Saturday and into early Sunday morning, according to airport maintenance worker Jake Harris. This resulted in the cancellation of three flights to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, and no incoming flights during that period.
Runways are now good, Harris said.
Koochiching County road maintenance crews worked 12-hour shifts clearing county roadways, giving up holiday time on both Christmas Day and Saturday, according to county Highway Engineer Doug Grindall.
“The guys put in one heck of a weekend,” Grindall told The Journal.
Grindall said county road conditions are under control at this time, but some locations are a problem due to drifting areas which require re-plowing. “Just cleanup takes time,” he added.
Grindall asks county residents who plow entrances and private roads to push snow loads back far enough to avoid creating hazardous ridges on public roadways, which are dangerous to snowmobilers and damaging to county equipment.
Shelly Monrean at City Hall told The Journal that all members of the International Falls street maintenance department were still on the job removing snow from city streets Monday. The office reported that several employees plowed on Christmas Day and throughout the storm.
