Old Man Winter certainly made his appearance known in Borderland this weekend.
In a 48-hour period, the region experienced both blows of winter’s force: snow then bitterly-cold temperatures.
Winter’s wake started Saturday when residents woke up to find several inches of new snow on the ground. According to the National Weather Service in Duluth, about 6-8 inches of snow fell as of 7 a.m. Saturday. More than 4 inches of that, according to a meteorologist, fell since midnight.
NWS meteorologist Melody Lovin said total snowfall for the weekend amount to 9.2 inches.
“It’s not a record by any means, but it was a significant amount of snow,” she said.
A winter storm warning was issued prior to the first flakes falling and Lovin said warnings are typically put out if more than 6 inches of snow is expected to cover the ground.
“In the case for last weekend’s storm, we knew it was going to be a solid snow storm,” the meteorologist told The Journal.
She said the storm carried a lot of strength and moved slowly across the area, lingering for several hours. The combination, she said, is a perfect recipe for several inches of snow.
“On top of that,” she continued, “it needs to be cold enough for snow crystals to develop. That way when precipitation falls, it falls as snow and not freezing rain.”
And while it’s likely residents didn’t want to spend a Saturday morning plowing, blowing and shoveling snow, it was a good idea. A cold front that trailed the snow storm ushered in arctic air with temperatures and a windchill amounting to -47 degrees.
“Especially in January, it is typical to experience that blisteringly cold air,” Lovin said, adding the forecast shows “pretty cold” temps for the rest of the week with a warmup of 5-10 degrees as a high for early next week.
Play safe
While outdoor winter enthusiasts may have been drooling over Saturday’s surplus of the white stuff, it is important to be aware of the dangers associated with extremely cold temperatures.
Exposure to cold can cause frostbite or hypothermia and become life-threatening, according the NWS website. Infants and elderly people are most susceptible, but anyone and everyone can be affected.
What constitutes extreme cold varies in different parts of the country, the site said. Here in the north, extreme cold means temperatures well below zero.
Wind chill is the term used to describe the rate of heat loss on the human body resulting from the combined effect of low temperature and wind. As winds increase, heat is carried away from the body at a faster rate, driving down both the skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Animals are also affected by wind chill; however, cars, plants and other objects are not.
Frostbite is damage to body tissue caused by extreme cold. A wind chill of -20 degrees will cause frostbite in just 30 minutes, the site said. Frostbite causes a loss of feeling and a white or pale appearance in extremities, such as fingers, toes, ear lobes or the tip of the nose.
Hypothermia is a condition brought on when the body temperature drops to less than 95 degrees. Warning signs include uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness and apparent exhaustion.
For more cold weather tips and a complete forecast, visit www.crh.noaa.gov.
