It was not quite what was predicted but bad enough. The National Weather Service was not too far off when they predicted a massive storm which arrived in two waves. The first wave brought snow starting on Monday February 20 with nearly 3 inches of snow causing schools to let out early.
The snow subsided a bit on Tuesday with many events being held as normal but the predictions were once again calling for large snow amounts on Wednesday and Thursday. With the warnings in place, area schools announced closures for both days.
Wednesday was fairly nice but the snow started falling in mid afternoon. That continued overnight with winds picking up during the night. The National Weather Service gave the final snow account for Stevens County over that 48 hour period as 12.2. The snow and winds caused huge drifts, especially in rural areas.
As clean-up began, the temperatures dropped. On Friday, schools were two hours late not only due to the road conditions but also because of extremely cold temperatures. The West Central Research and Outreach Center posted a -18.7 degree reading not taking into account the wind factor. The ‘feels like’ temperature was closer to -30 degrees.
The City of Morris declared two snow alerts during the week asking residents to keep vehicles off the streets to allow crews time to remove all the snow. The dumping site for much of the snow is at the Stevens County Fairgrounds with those piles growing steadily.
