Mainstreet Radio’s Tim Post spent the morning with his neighbors, shoveling more than a foot of heavy, wet snow. A powerful winter storm buried central and western Minnesota with as much as 30 inches of snow. The heaviest band of snow stretched from Willmar to St. Cloud.
A warm November in 2001 ended with, slow-moving winter storm that left a swath of heavy snow over central Minnesota. The heaviest snow was centered around Willmar where 21.0 inches fell in a 24-hour period on November 27th, 2001, with an eventual storm total of 30.4 inches. The storm also brought strong winds to the Duluth Harbor, with a peak wind gust of 52 mph and estimated 10 foot waves. Another phenomena of storm was lightning during the falling snow on the evening of November 26th in the Twin Cities.
Transcripts
text | pdf |
TIM POST: 13th Avenue South in Saint Cloud looked like every other street in the city. Today after a full day of snow, things were a mess. And snow continued to fall while people tried to scoop their way out. Kurt Cady had to do it the old-fashioned way, with a shovel.
KURT CADY: It's a lot of work. Snowblower doesn't plow through this stuff.
SPEAKER 1: Too wet.
KURT CADY: Too wet. Too heavy. Too much.
TIM POST: The heavy snow gave students in Saint Cloud a day off from school. Josh [? Wheaton ?] wasn't sure it was a day off he would appreciate. [? Wheaton ?] was pressed into sidewalk shoveling duty.
What-- is this better than going to school?
[? JOSH WHEATON: ?] No. Not quite.
[LAUGHS]
Well, probably, we won't have to do this all day. I just have to do it once in the morning, and maybe again in the evening. Make sure it doesn't pile up too much overnight.
TIM POST: Next door, Gordon Shern cut through the snow with surprising speed. The spry 80-year-old handles a shovel like a 20-year-old. His wife stands in the doorway of their one story house as a huge drift of snow hangs precariously from the roof over their heads.
GORDON SHERN: Well, we got enough now to last us all winter. One snow storm and it take us all the way through. God.
SPEAKER 2: That's not done yet.
TIM POST: Shern has a lot of work ahead of him. He wants to shovel the sidewalk all the way around his house. But the 80-year-old is not worried about his back or his heart, his main concern is where he's going to put all the snow.
GORDON SHERN: I just keep it up until I get out to the driveway. But then, that won't take me anywhere either. But if this keeps on, we're going to have a heck of a time finding a place to put the snow because it's going to fill up around the house.
TIM POST: People were able to get around in Saint Cloud today, but it was a challenge. Even after streets were plowed, there were mounds of snow everywhere, ready to trap motorists in their vehicles.
[CAR ENGINE REVVING]
Tim [? Doole ?] never thought an icy pile of snow would stop his all-wheel drive station wagon, but it did.
[? TIM DOOLE: ?] Hit that bump, and hit that pile of snow there, and just got airborne. And that's about it.
TIM POST: Doole left his car stuck in the street. He walked to his parents' house about a block away, looking for help. It was a good day for anyone hoping to try out new snow-fighting equipment. Richard Scott was sporting a new powerful, red snow blower. For him, timing was everything.
RICHARD SCOTT: I just got this thing last week, too. The insurance company reimbursed me for the one that they stole out of my shed last winter. I had it for 10 years. And the very last snow we had, they cut the lock, lifted it up over the hood of my wife's car, and drag it into the alley and took off with it. I just picked this one up. Still got the plastic on it.
[LAUGHS]
[SHOWBLOWER STARTING]
TIM POST: Scott had long since finished his sidewalk, and was now helping a grateful neighbor with hers.
SPEAKER 3: I just bought the house. I lived in an apartment, so this is my first real experience of having to shovel. And I'm a single parent. My son's inside, and it was just really nice of you to help me.
RICHARD SCOTT: Oh, don't worry about it.
TIM POST: Saint Cloud residents will get a break from the snow tonight. The heaviest snow is expected to move out of the area. Saint Cloud already has 15 inches of snow, Hutchinson received 10, but Willmar saw the worst of the storm, 28.5 inches landed on the town. Flurries are expected to hang around through Wednesday for Central and Western Minnesota. More snow is expected by the weekend. Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio, Saint Cloud.