• Sunday-What'sUP March 4 - 05:28 pm

Yesterday morning Edie and I started the day in Marquette, where we had stayed overnight to avoid the snow that socked-in the U.P.'s mid-section. But the Copper Country had also received some - even though it didn't show on the radar or appear in the forecast. This kind of unpredictable 'Lake Effect' snow has dumped almost 400 inches on the Keweenaw Peninsula during some winters.

When I checked out the webcams back home, I noticed the fourth scene above, and shot out an email to some of the Mainstreet and Copper Dog guys to see if we could un-obstruct the Camera to see the action on 5th street. Jeff Valley followed up with his handy Silver Bear roof rake, and the last scene was what we saw coming through last night, on our way to Eagle River.

Thanks again to the U.P. Digitization Center for their diligent efforts in preserving this region's visual history, and providing another Shoebox Memory. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have some of the action from the Copper Dog 150, which concludes today.

Have a good week :o)

Awesome combination of old pictures AND new ones!! Thanks! Yep, that lake effect can be something else, Mother Superior at her finest!

I c the Keweenaw got hit pretty hard by the snow, 2. Northwestern lower Michigan had numerous power outages as well. My electricity was out from about 4:07 AM to about 7:08 PM. I like the streetcar in the 1920 pics.

Oh the transition time, not really winter, but not quite spring......

As the saying goes: If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. After Friday down here in the Ohio Valley and Tri-state, I sure hope that proves true. So much death and destruction.

My youngest son called me when he was (10 miles out of Marquette) yesterday morning, on his way home from Tech yesterday for Spring Break, because of the "terrible driving conditions". "Somewhere on 41", they had been detoured off 41 for a big accident (story is on WLUC TV 6 web site), and the road was in awful condition, but the detour was worse. They wanted to know if they should come home through Wisconsin? Thanks to WLUC TV 6's radar and stories on their web site, plus mackinacbridge.org, I told them to continue east and the Big Mac was open. I had them drop south at Marquette to pick up US 2. They grumbled, because they like to go through Seney, but they did it safely on the southern route, thank heavens! US 2 was far easier driving, but the stretch just south of Marquette, heading down to US 2 was awful for awhile. To make a long story short, amen to Charlie's comments on the unpredictable Lake Effect Snow. A huge thanks to WLUC TV 6 for making the live radar available on the web! That can save lives, if people take the time to check it out before hitting the road!

Great pictures! Thanks Jeff for clearing the way for all to see, My Silver Bear snow scoop has been getting some time in this week too! Praying for those affected by the bad weather, Shirley.

Looks like all that snow they hauled in for the Copper Dog was a wasted effort. Mother nature out did the highway department. 6th street looks like a real mess but not near as messy as 1920.
Jim

Thank you, Mike, I'm sure the victims will appreciate all the prayers offered up for them.

Greetings:

I'm not questioning the weather, snow or accuracy of the 1920 photos as the people look very well bundled up, but there are two oddities in the photo marked "Streetcar plow on Sixth Street."

One is the middle storm window of the house to the left in the photo has the storm window open. Why? Too warm?

Two is the C&H stack has lots of black coal smoke coming out but where is the smoke from all the other homes and businesses? I doubt that Calumet had natural gas in 1920 or that C&H provided heat to all the buildings back then.

JT

The depot is on Oak between 8th and 9th, not 10th.

Re: Open window. Sometimes if a house is heated with steam hot water radiators, the upper floors get really hot, if the thermostat is on the lower floor. Our house can be 60 degrees in the kitchen on the first floor, but if the boilers are on, the second floor can be 75-80 degrees. Hard to regulate these old fashioned heating systems.