Left: Snowfall accumulation map. Center: POES 1km 11-3.9 micron satellite image at 9:40pm on December 11, 2010. Lake effect band of snow from Isle Royale to Ashland County becomes evident. Right: POES 1km IR satellite image at 9:40 pm on December 11, 2010. Convective elements near Green Bay had cloud tops as cold as -65C.
A strong winter storm affected much of the Upper Midwest on December 11th and December 12th. A surface low moved east from northern Nebraska late in the day on December 10th, and tracked into Ohio by the morning of December 12th, intensifying as it moved east. Leading up to the storm, weather forecast models varied considerably in the track of the low. It turned out that the low wound up taking a more southerly track which placed the heaviest snow and blizzard conditions south of the NWS Duluth area of responsibility. However, there were still significant snowfall accumulations across parts of northwest Wisconsin. 6 inches or more of snow fell to the south of a line generally from Pine City, to Minong, to Drummond, to Washburn.
Snowfall accumulation map available (top left)
Parts of the Gogebic Range in Ashland and Iron Counties received over a foot of snow due to a combination of system snow and lake effect snow. Gile reported 17.8 inches of snow. The highest snowfall total from purely system snow wound up being Sarona in far southern Washburn County (16.4 inches).
A heavy band of lake effect snow, combined with wind gusts as high as 40 mph, lead to parts of Highway 2 west of the city of Ashland being shut down for a time as the road became impassible. The heavy snow and gusty winds closer to the lake caused similar problems on roads over much of northern Ashland and northern Iron counties.
Other NWS Office Write-ups
List of Snowfall Totals
INCHES LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME ------ ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- 17.80 GILE WI IRON 0520 PM 16.40 SARONA WI WASHBURN 0430 AM 12.00 HURLEY WI IRON 0858 AM 11.50 UPSON WI IRON 0800 AM 11.00 PRENTICE WI PRICE 0813 PM 10.10 2 SE WINTER WI SAWYER 0900 AM 10.00 12 WSW SHELL LAKE WI BURNETT 1231 PM 10.00 2 E GLIDDEN WI ASHLAND 0818 AM 9.00 5 SW PHILLIPS WI PRICE 0807 PM 9.00 PHILLIPS WI PRICE 0715 PM 9.00 ASHLAND WI ASHLAND 0708 PM 8.50 PARK FALLS WI PRICE 0620 AM 8.30 8 S HAYWARD WI SAWYER 0925 PM 8.00 TRADE LAKE WI BURNETT 0859 AM 8.00 3 N BUTTERNUT WI ASHLAND 0600 AM 7.50 HERTEL WI BURNETT 0943 AM 7.00 MONTREAL WI IRON 0455 PM 7.00 2 E ROCK CREEK MN PINE 0937 PM 6.60 4 W CLAM LAKE WI BAYFIELD 0610 AM 5.80 4 W WASHBURN WI BAYFIELD 1148 AM 5.70 HAYWARD WI SAWYER 0815 PM 5.50 13 NE WEBSTER WI BURNETT 0943 AM INCHES LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME ------ ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- 5.00 BAYFIELD WI BAYFIELD 0815 AM 5.00 MAPLE WI DOUGLAS 0733 AM 5.00 WASHBURN WI BAYFIELD 1148 PM 4.50 12 W DRUMMOND WI BAYFIELD 0500 PM 4.10 3 WSW HINCKLEY MN PINE 0630 AM 4.00 2 SW HINCKLEY MN PINE 0732 PM 3.80 MADELINE ISLAND WI ASHLAND 0535 AM 3.50 9 N BAYFIELD WI BAYFIELD 0700 AM 3.00 13 N BRULE WI DOUGLAS 0700 AM 2.90 BRUNO MN PINE 0800 AM 2.50 HAWTHORNE WI DOUGLAS 1122 AM 2.50 5 SW BRUNO MN PINE 0814 AM 2.50 4 S BRUNO MN PINE 0700 AM 2.00 5 S HERBSTER WI BAYFIELD 0814 AM 2.00 SOUTH RANGE WI DOUGLAS 0755 PM 2.00 HOLYOKE MN CARLTON 0328 PM 1.30 12 N ISLE MN AITKIN 0800 AM 1.00 MOOSE LAKE MN CARLTON 0600 PM 0.80 FORT RIPLEY MN CROW WING 0400 PM 0.50 3 E WRIGHT MN CARLTON 0600 AM 0.10 5 NW DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 1200 PM
After the low started to exit the area by the morning of December 12th, very cold air poured into the Northland. Combined with breezy winds on the backside of the low, this produced some very bitter wind chills across the area. Here is a list of those wind chills from the morning of December 12th. The Duluth and International Falls observations have been highlighted.
...LOWEST WIND CHILLS FROM SUNDAY MORNING DECEMBER 12 2010... BELOW IS A LIST OF LOWEST WIND CHILLS AND MORNING LOWS ON SUNDAY MORNING DECEMBER 12 2010. THE LIST IS SORTED BY WIND CHILL FROM COLDEST TO WARMEST. THE LIST HAS BEEN BROKEN DOWN INTO SUB SECTIONS TO MAKE IT EASIER TO READ...-25 TO -30...-30 TO -35...AND -35 AND COLDER. THE COLDEST WIND CHILLS WERE IN INLAND PARTS OF NORTHERN ST. LOUIS...COOK...AND LAKE COUNTIES IN MINNESOTA. WC LOW LOCATION ST COUNTY TYPE ---- --- ------------------ -- ------------ ------ -38 -13 COOK CNTY AIRPORT MN COOK AWOS -37 -27 INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN KOOCHICHING ASOS -36 -15 TUCKER LAKE MN COOK PRIVATE -35 -16 FERNBERG MN LAKE RAWS -35 -13 HIBBING MN ST. LOUIS RAWS WC LOW LOCATION ST COUNTY TYPE ---- --- ------------------ -- ------------ ------ -34 -12 MCCOMBER MN ST. LOUIS PRIVATE -34 -14 2 NE HIBBING HWY 169 MN ST. LOUIS MNDOT -34 -16 ISABELLA MN LAKE RAWS -34 -18 ORR MN ST. LOUIS AWOS -34 -9 CLOQUET MN CARLTON AWOS -33 -13 AURORA MN ST. LOUIS PRIVATE -33 -19 LITTLEFORK MN KOOCHICHING RAWS -33 -11 GRAND RAPIDS MN ITASCA AWOS -33 -10 DULUTH AIRPORT MN ST. LOUIS ASOS -32 -17 MARGIE HWY 71 MN KOOCHICHING MNDOT -32 -16 ORR MN ST. LOUIS RAWS -31 -18 7 NE BIGFORK MN ITASCA MNDOT -31 -15 EFFIE MN ITASCA RAWS -31 -4 GRAND MARAIS MN COOK ASOS -31 -21 SEAGULL LAKE MN COOK RAWS -30 -17 MEANDER MN ST. LOUIS RAWS -30 -17 ELY MN ST. LOUIS AWOS -30 -15 BIGFORK MN ITASCA AWOS -30 -12 HIBBING MN ST. LOUIS ASOS WC LOW LOCATION ST COUNTY TYPE ---- --- ------------------ -- ------------ ------ -28 -8 GRAND PORTAGE MN COOK RAWS -28 -8 PINE RIVER MN CASS AWOS -28 -8 MCGREGOR MN AITKIN AWOS -28 -9 I-35 THOMPSON HILL MN ST. LOUIS MNDOT -27 -5 DULUTH/LESTER PARK MN ST. LOUIS PRIVATE -27 -8 DADS CORNER MN AITKIN MNDOT -27 -15 KETFALLS MN ST. LOUIS RAWS -26 -11 SAGINAW MN ST. LOUIS RAWS -26 -10 BALL BLUFF MN AITKIN MNDOT -26 -8 GRAND PORTAGE HWY 61 MN COOK MNDOT -26 -8 AITKIN MN AITKIN AWOS -26 -6 TWO HARBORS MN LAKE AWOS -26 -7 LEADER MN CASS PRIVATE -26 -7 BRAINERD MN CROW WING RAWS -26 -15 SQUAW LAKE MN ITASCA MNDOT -26 -18 ASH RIVER MN ST. LOUIS PRIVATE -25 -19 KABETOGAMA MN ST. LOUIS RAWS -25 -4 DULUTH/35-GARFIELD MN ST. LOUIS MNDOT -25 -8 MOOSE LAKE MN CARLTON RAWS -25 -6 BRAINERD MN CROW WING ASOS -25 -6 MOOSE LAKE MN CARLTON AWOS -25 -7 EMILY MN CROW WING MNDOT -25 -11 HILL CITY MN ITASCA RAWS * THE LOW AT CRANE LAKE /KCDD/ WAS -26 BUT THE WIND WAS CALM DURING THE OVERNIGHT. * THE LOW AT MINNESOTA DOT SITE ON HIGHWAY 53 MILE POST 129 NEAR RAY WAS -33 BUT THE WIND WAS CALM DURING THE NIGHT.
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