Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Early brutal start to winter likely to change to average

MARQUETTE — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared Nov. 5-11 Winter Hazards Awareness Week more than a week after the snow began falling throughout much of the Upper Peninsula.

While 15.2 inches of snow had fallen at Ironwood through Friday and the November temperatures have been unseasonably cold, it’s too early to say the area will be in for a brutal winter.

As of Friday, the average reading for the month in Ironwood of 27.6 degrees compared to the 116-year average of 36.7 degrees.

The 5 inches of snow on the ground was nowhere near the record 27 inches in 1989.

The Gogebic Range is comin...