April really is the cruelest month this year

Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

Mackenzie Erickson, 11, (in pink) reloaded and looked for her next target while Patrick Coleman, 13, above, tried to attack by breaching her protected position. Heavy snowfall in Pelican Rapids caused the cancellation of school.

Up north, it doesn't look much like spring, after more than 2 feet of wet snow fell over the weekend.

By BILL McAULIFFE, Star Tribune

Last update: April 7, 2008 - 10:51 PM

Monday was going to be the day the Virginia, Minn., high school golf team practiced outside for the first time this year.

But it's going to be tough putting for a while around Virginia and much of northern Minnesota, where more than 2 feet of wet snow over the weekend has smothered hopes of spring's return.

"It just wears on you. You want a change of seasons here, and we're not getting it," said Kerry Bidle, dean of students and athletic director at Virginia High School.

By the end of last week, snow had retreated to background patches. But Monday morning a weather observer just north of Virginia reported 32 inches of new snow since Saturday night. More than 2 feet was reported from Babbitt to Grand Rapids, the length of the Iron Range.

To the west, Park Rapids and Bemidji got about 20 inches.

Totals dropped off to the north and south, but the snow closed schools across the region Monday, left many side roads impassable and interrupted electrical service to households as tree branches, laden with the heavy snow, fell onto power lines. Lake County Power, which serves about 40,000 mostly rural customers across much of northern Minnesota, still had about 600 customers without power late Monday afternoon, down from 2,000 Monday morning. The agency's crews had been hampered by snow-covered back roads.

Dropped by a slow-moving low pressure system that drew moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and mixed it with cold air, the snowfall in many places exceeded the Twin Cities' single-storm record of 28.4 inches, set by the 1991 Halloween blizzard. But it did not threaten the state's single April day snowfall record of 28 inches set at the Pigeon River Bridge at the Canadian border on April 5, 1933. The greatest single-day snowfall over the weekend was 20 inches just north of Virginia on Sunday into Monday morning.

Snow continued in some locations Monday, so the totals may go even higher.

In cities across the region, snow was piled high in windrows down the middle of streets, with complete removal likely to take days. In Park Rapids, several citizens called city hall to complain that they couldn't make left turns and that the snow was blocking their driveways.

"In the winter, people are more tolerant," said city clerk Margie Vik. "But this is spring, and they're not happy."

Bidle said that with continued low temperatures in the forecast, it may be three weeks before the snow melts, the ground thaws and fields are playable for the region's sports teams.

Assistant Minnesota state climatologist Pete Boulay said the storm's snow-to-water ratio of about 10 to 1 was very heavy for Minnesota, where the ratios can run up to 30 to 1 or more in colder weather. But the moisture should be welcome in much of north central Minnesota, where two years of dryness had continued through the winter. Much of the soil may still be frozen but the meltwater should recharge rivers and streams.

The snow also showed that the Virginia High School band might be on a lucky streak right now.

"They're in Orlando," Bidle said.

For the snow belt, the forecast is calling for continuing chances of snow through the week, with highs in the 40s and lows below freezing. Twin Cities temperatures will approach 50 on Wednesday with lows through the week near freezing.

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646

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