Mar 20: It was 32 when I went to bed last night but it was 38 when I got up this morning. It is now sunny with mostly blue skies, high white clouds, and 41 degrees at 9am. I think it is going to be a very warm day and we may have a lot of melting. Lake Superior is calm with ripples on its grayish blue surface. You can watch gusts of wind off the hill spread out on the lake after they hit the surface. The broken ice moved out during the night and I can see a band of that ice about a mile out from the shore.

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Mar 19: We had another day of heavy fog and freezing mist as we traveled from Faribault to the seminar in Arden Hills this morning. Luckly road conditions became good by the time we got into heavy traffic for the morning rush time entering the cities. Traveling home after the seminar we enjoyed sun and temps in the 40's until Duluth. Coming over Thompson Hill temps dropped to 32 degrees and we could see that the head of the lake was white with ice. Returning to Grand Marais we could hear the ice churning up against the shore.   

 

Mar 18: We traveled to southern Minnesota today for a tax appointment and seminar. It was 21 degrees this morning when we left. We had 1-2 inches of light fluffy snow overnight but there was a layer of frozen mist underneath it. Traveling down the shore was difficult with the frozen mist still on some of the road surfaces and heavy fog limited visibility. Freezing mist was still coming down and freezing even on our windshield. The mist ended near Two Harbors and the fog dissipated driving up the hill out of Duluth. It was 32 degrees in Duluth and was 46 degrees when we arrived in Faribault.  

 

Mar 17: The wind is gone. The waves on Lake Superior have subsided. Skies were blue and sunny this morning but have changed to light gray overcast this afternoon. Temps plummeted to 1 below zero overnight. The result was ice started forming on the still lake surface. That ice was not visible this morning but has now began moving to and onto the shore this afternoon. Currently we have 20 degrees at 3pm.

 

Mar 16: It was a cold and windy day today. The strong winds were buffeting us from the hill and hitting the lake. It was 8 degrees this morning and we only got to a 25 degree high in spite of the clear blue skies and sun. We heard huge waves from Lake Superior overnight an had 3-4ft blue roller waves from the SE during the day.

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Mar 15: Our low this morning was 26 and our low at 11pm is 21. In between we had a high of 33. The overcast skies today did not produce anything more than snow flurries here in Croftville but they also prevented much solar gain. I saw no sign of melting today. Lake Superior has 1-2ft gray waves from the south. Winds were all over the place as far as direction.

 

Mar 14: The mathematician in me has to say Happy Pi Day. Our low overnight was 11 but even sun being filtered through light cloud cover, we managed to get to 38 today and the melting of yesterday's blizzard has begun. The strong winds have been replaced with a light breeze. The massive waves are now just 2ft light blue waves from the south. You can still see regions of a water / snow mixture from all the snow that was blown into or fell into the lake during the storm.

 

Mar 13: The wind picked up and the snow began coming down at 11pm last night. It snowed and blew heavily through the night with an estimate of 12 inches here by the lake in Croftville this morning. Snow is still coming down but only lightly but the wind is still blowing snow around hard. Lake Superior has 5ft gray waves that are a snow and water slurry hammering the shore. Our temps have stayed steady throughout this storm at 28 and 29 degrees. They say the blizzard will end around 1pm. 

 

Mar 12: It was a rather unremarkable day here in Croftville. It was colder again with a low of 15 and warmed into the upper 20's today after a high of 43 yesterday. Lake Superior continued to have 1-2ft gray waves from the SE. Skies were mostly cloudy with a little sun peaking out at times. Mostly people are talking about the impending blizzard with 12 plus inches of snow that is supposed to be on the way. First they said it was to hit at 1pm. Then it was 4pm. Duluth said on the 6pm news that they had snow beginning. However, it is 10pm and still no sign of the storm with the possible exception that I can hear the waves starting to pick up.

 

Mar 11: We have gray overcast skies over the lake and gray partly cloudy skies with patches of blue over the land this morning. The big lake has 1-2ft gray roller waves from the SE that break just before the rocks. Our temperature dropped to 25 overnight and has been rising this morning after another inch of fresh snow. We are now at 33 degrees at noon. No sign of any lake ice today.

 

Mar 10: What a difference a day makes. Our low was 26 and our high was 27. Overnight we got a half inch of snow that remained all day long. Skies are a mixture of mostly gray cloudy skies and gray overcast. Lake Superior has 3-4ft waves from the SE crashing into our rocks and consuming much of the ice that was built up on the shore. The waves are a gray metallic color with some blue tones far out and some copper tones close to shore. 

 

Mar 9: Overnight we only got down to 34 degrees with melting continuing all through the night. With a 47 degree high today, the snow cover on roofs, roads, and walkways was melting rapidly. Overhead, we had mostly cloudy skies which limited the melting on the ground. Lake Superior has 1-2ft gray blue roller waves from the SSE. There is no visible ice out on the lake today.

 

Mar 8: Our low was 33 overnight. Each time I got up during the night the sky was clear and I could see the moon. And yet, sometime during the night we received about an inch of snowfall. How that happened will remain a mystery. At 10am we are already to 40 degrees and with clear blue skies and a bright sun reflecting off the lake. The waves picked up during the night with 3ft crests from the SSE pounding the shore. The waves ate away so much at the ice on the shore that the rocks are again exposed next to the shore. That ice was pulled out into the lake creating a band of liquid ice with chunks of every size. 

 

Mar 7: All trace of ice was gone in the water this morning and throughout today.  There is still some ice stacked up and frozen on the shore. Lake Superior was a dark blue with just ripples from the SW on its flat surface this morning. Skies were cloudy, mostly gray but with a little white coming through where the clouds were thinner. By afternoon 1-2ft waves had developed and we had sun breaking through. It rained lightly all night. Our temps dropped briefly to 25 and the rain turned to a dusting of snow. By morning it was back to 34 degrees and our high was 42.

 

Mar 6: It warmed up overnight and I woke up to 30 degrees. We have freezing rain outside and our temps have topped out at 33 degrees. Skies have been a dreary white overcast all day long. Lake Superior barely has ripples on its dark navy surface. There are strands of molten ice parallel with the shore that almost appear to be a river of ice flowing through the unfrozen lake surface. The freezing rain makes all the flat surfaces very slippery.

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Mar 5: Waves on Lake Superior last night and today have created large regions of open dark gray waters. The 2-3ft waves from the SE ate away the ice shelf peninsulas during the night. Today those waves are reabsorbing the ice or pulling out away from shore. I can see a band of ice about 1-2miles out from the beach. The low overnight was 19 and we are now at 26 at 3pm which is likely the high today considering the unbroken gray overcast skies that have covered us all day.

 

Mar 4: No sun today. We have gotten spoiled with the sun from the past days. Gray overcast skies did little for solar gain, there was very little melting today. Our low was 28 and our high 32. Lake Superior is calm with a mixture of ice sheet moving east to west longitudinally along the shore. There are a few currents that look almost like rivers.

 

Mar 3: The sky is clear but hazy today, especially over Lake Superior. The lake is still with ice sheets and patches tightly packed in the water. I can see no completely frozen regions nor can I see and regions devoid of ice. Overnight we dropped to 26 and so far today our high is 43 at 3pm. Melting on the roadways is extensive.

 

Mar 2: It is a clear sunny day with light blue skies. Lake Superior has patches and regions of ice, open water, and a slurry mix. The open water is deep blue with ripples from the SW. Our low was 5 overnight and we are now at 31 degrees at noon. Snow and ice on the roads and sidewalks are melting.

 

Mar 1: We begin March on this Sunday morning with a clear light blue sky. The sun is bright and at 9am we are already at 6 above after an overnight low of 3 below. Lake Superior is deep blue and still. There are still remnants of the huge ice shelf clinging to the shore. The lake surface is a mixture of open water, open water with broken ice in it reflecting sunlight, and patches large and small of thin ice out on the lake.