By Sterling McGinn
Luce County, like the entire Upper Peninsula, was hit with a historic winter snowstorm beginning on Sunday, December 28 lasting through the early morning hours of Tuesday, December 30. Weather alerts began more than a day in advance, but the storm still delivered more than was expected.
The storm began with freezing rain on Sunday afternoon, but changed to snow during the night. Newberry received well over a foot of snow, and high winds built large drifts that forced local businesses to close and residents to get “snowed in”.
By Monday morning, Newberry had witnessed what Dan Thompson, Science and Operations Officer for the National Weather Service in Marquette, calls a “meteorological bomb.”
“That refers to when a storm strengthens in a certain amount in a certain time. When that happens, you usually get some really strong winds,” Thompson said. Thompson said that Newberry got at least one a report of 40 mph winds.
In Newberry, mail service was suspended for the day, a rare occurrence. The post office lobby was open.
Rahilly’s IGA and Mac’s Market were open for business, but closed early on Monday for everyone’s safety.
The Luce County Government Building was completely closed on Monday and the Luce County Sheriff’s Department urged residents to stay off the roads until the blizzard cleared. The Tahquamenon Area Library was also closed Monday and Tuesday so the parking lot could be cleared.
A railroad plow vehicle twice derailed on Monday while trying to keep the railroad clear near the Newberry depot.
The high winds even blew down several of Newberry’s iconic Christmas bells; several were found in the snowbanks.
Many of the streets in the Village of Newberry were nearly impassable Monday morning, and plenty of vehicles – even those with four-wheel drive – got stuck in drifts. Those who could get out had pick-up trucks with plows; they spent much of their time pulling motorists out of drifts.
Luce County Undersheriff Mike Peters said his department deputies provided traffic control for about a half a dozen incidents in high traffic areas on Monday and had to rescue one snowmobiler who rode off the trail and got stuck in the swamp. Many more people were helped by civilians.
“The local tow companies were obviously swamped, so in nearly every instance, the local citizenry were observed stepping up to push or pull out the victims’ vehicles,” Peters said.
Reports of vehicles in the ditch were still coming in on Tuesday morning.
The Luce County Road Commission and Village of Newberry plow crews worked day and night to make the roads passable. Much of the businesses and governmental agencies were open by Tuesday morning.
Pete Villemure, the Newberry News snow reporter, had last measured the snow on Monday morning and said that his snowfall total had reached 84 inches for the winter. On Tuesday morning, his new report totaled 91 inches.
Villemure said that he has been measuring the snowfall at this house for 25 years.
“This is the worst that I have seen since 2000,” he said.
The Newberry News will have an updated snow report next week.
—With contributions from Carol Stiffler
