• Wednesday-What'sUP April 9 - 08:34 pm

Everything is messy when the warmer temperatures start arriving and there's still snow around. Karl Berg supplies us with some prime examples today. He's displaying sandy ice, with a number of outgrowths (note the beautiful blue sky). Next, an example of a large chunk of dirty ice that's hanging on until the sun's rays melt through the layers (again there's beauty in the sky). And finally some spires of ice that have obviously been splashed with sandy water. Maybe not the most beatiful kind of shot, but you have to admit that Mother Nature has definitely designed some interesting sculptures here.

wow, i'm #1 two days in a row ! Great ice pics karl. these pics made me wonder ... what is the LATEST anyone has found snow/ice in the UP? I bet late June? July?

Those are some nice pictures.

Seeing the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright in DAY IN HISTORY, and contrasting them with these products of nature's Architect, is a good way to start the day. Now back to work.

The first shot is interesting; I wonder what causes the protrusions. They look like snow flowers.

Nothing says "I've been enjoying time in Michigan" quite like a car full of sand... :)

To answer Jeff's question: I have observed snow on the dark side of the hills out in the woods of the Keweenaw in the middle of June!! Also, it snowed on May 28th when I was graduating from da Tech, eh!

In answer to Jeff's question: I remember being on the beach I belive it was west of where the Au Train comes into the Lake, There was a bank there that kinda overhung the Beach, There was still Ice and snow packed in that place, and that was in about the first of July as I remember. Thats been many a moon ago. Over 50 yrs. ago.

It snowed on the night of my senior prom back in 1976 which I think was May 1st.

The top looks like white leaves are growing out of it.

Jeff - my husband says it snowed (fresh snow!) on his birthday one year near Marquette - August 13. My brother was up at Tech for a summer youth program and it snowed the morning of July 4.

I'm sure in protected spots after a heavy snow year and a dry spring (no rain to melt down the piles), leftover snow can be found very late into the summer.

Been a rough few days over here in NE MN - we had 24" of snow Sunday, and are currently forecasted to get another foot Friday. Sure is making getting sap out of the woods for syrup a pain.

Anybody got any bright ideas that could help us out? The snow is very wet, heavy, slushy & slick once compressed. No way we could get the six-wheeler around the trail (or even *to* the trail) right now. Have a small packed trail from snowshoeing out there yesterday. Lots of full buckets in the woods (5 gal & 35 gal trashcans), but no good idea of how to get them back to the boiling pan. Other equipment handy: snowshoes, plastic sleds, a toboggan, and lids for the 5 gal. buckets.

My only idea so far has been to load the toboggan with full & lidded 5-gal buckets, but I have no idea if we would be able to keep the sled upright.

*sigh*

Anybody got a creative solution?

It snowed 6 inches on May 11 & 12 1971 in Laurium/Calumet. We were on our honemoon. It was my first trip to the UP and Keweenaw. It was a big surprise for me as It was in the 70's back home in Hillsdale County. Mrs W

The only thing I can think of is to attach canoe outriggers to the toboggan.
Mr. Deb

Jeff -- two places I've found snow late into the summer (Early July) are these:

- The hillside between DHH (the Tech dorm) and the Portage. Tech dumps snow there and then compacts it over the course of the winter, so it's well shaded and well compacted, and covered in road dirt.

- Inside deeply shaded ruins at the Cliffs. There were some pretty large piles still there even in early July last year.

I remember the snow in May of '71....we were leaving on our senior class trip to Chicago

I remember some snow in mid June in the Piers Gorge area ... Northerly facing slopes of mount bohemia keep it a while i bet.

Could those be Snoshrooms in the first picture?

Snow, snow, snow, that's been the talk on here so far today and that's what we're getting here in the Keweenaw right now too, with more expected on Friday. Our "roving" reporter, Paul Roberts was kind enough to send us a photo of what it looks like here in Calumet today. Take note of the hotel sign Ahh...Spring in the Copper Country! :->

It snowed 10" on May 10, 1967. I had just moved to the UP. Was I surprised!!!

We're looking for 6 to 10 more inches of Spring tomorrow and Friday here in Minny.
Mr. Deb

Wow! I'm so grateful that I moved south...

My wife's dad, Art Moilanen, knew of an old mine shaft somewhere around Copper Falls that had ice most of the summer. They would fill a picnic cooler for trips to the camp in Eagle River.

Say what you like about the beauty of snow; but by this time of year I'm really "SICK OF IT" and there's no end in sight. It's time for some spring and summer pictures.

just think if we could just get it to stay over the summer and each winter build up a little bit at a time, bit by bit, we might have our own Copper Harbor glacier someday !!!

There was an old mine opening up the hill from the Gitchee Gumee Bible Camp that people called the "ice mine". People from Eagle river, etc. would keep their coolers full for pop and beer and food. Charlie probably knows about it. It would stay frozen even into August.

Does anyone remember when it snowed on July 4th? It has to be about 15 years ago,temps were in the 30's,it didn't stick on the ground but it was snow flakes.

Forecast has been revised, 10 to 14 inches for Thursday and Friday. yay.....
Mr. Deb

I remember it, Jerry!! My kids were there at the time. They couldn't believe that it would actually snow on the 4th of July.

Our possible snowfall has gone up again. We could get up to 16" before it's all said and done. Oh goody!!! I should be planting my flowers for crying out loud!

Umm, if you want to plant your flowers in early April, maybe the south is more suited to you, as in Texas or Louisiana, et al? We don't dare plant flowers here in mid-Michigan until Memorial Day, for real. Our town always plants flowers along part of the Business Route of US 10, in mid-May. I remember one year they lost about 17 flats worth of already planted flowers to a hard freeze. Other years, they lost some, but not as many. That just gets too expensive. I usually buy most of ours in early May, to get the colors that I want, and then store them in the garage, under our boat trailer, to keep them warm at night. (Yes, they do get plenty of sun, when they are outside during the day. But, we don't dare plant them in the ground until Memorial Day, the first day that we are passed the real danger of a freeze.)

When we lived in the south, we could safely plant our annuals about March 20th. :-) That's over two months' difference, sigh! I do miss the Springs down there, and the wildflowers. But, up here, we have delightful summers, for the most part, instead of living in a hot, humid oven!

Umm, well I've planted flowers here in April nearly every year. We don't usually continue to get the snow and cold like you do in Michigan. It's a different kind of year this year. So yes, I really should be starting to plant my flowers.

The only flower that gets planted here is the "flour" in my pasties. It gets planted right in my big ole' belly.

Wow--you're lucky, being able to plant so early in Minnesota. I never would have guessed that. :-)

Geez Marianne, I don't live in Minnisoda and I can plant those pasties all year long.

The snoshrooms show why global warming is a problem. Read a note from a scientist in the Antarctic when a glacier broke off in 1996. He said he was nearly crying because the newly exposed darker rock and ground (like the sand around the 'shrooms) absorb heat that melts more glaciers, repeat, repeat until it's all gone. So, toss some ground up charcoal briquets (or dark roast coffee grounds) on any snow you want, um, dismissed by absorbed heat.