St. Louis County is advising no travel on gravel roads along the Iron Range region. Now, I live just over the line in Itasca County but it’s pretty much the same deal here. And considering that I live at the end of a long gravel road surrounded by impenetrable forest, you have a pretty good idea of how the day is going.
Weather events wreaking havoc in northern Minnesota during the month of January aren’t especially rare. Rain is unusual, though. It freaks people out. And it stands ready to freeze into nastiness at any moment. This reminds me of the way people in other parts of the country react when it snows; preemptively cancelling everything and wringing their hands as they stare out the window.