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This winter isn't half-bad, numerically

     Only now am I beginning to put last winter in perspective. I think of this as a pretty "normal" winter. For snowfall, we're just about average in Duluth, and we have more snow than much of Northeastern Minnesota. Temperature-wise, January was a couple of degrees warmer than average.

     The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released its Winter Severity Index figures for Jan. 31 today (a couple of weeks late; the keeper of the WSI was on vacation). At most stations, the WSI totals are about half what they were last year.

      So, I'm realizing that last winter was pretty tough. I guess we knew that at the time, based on the WSI and our own fuel bills, but this seems like a "normal" winter and last year was much harsher.

      Presumably, we'll get the Feb. 14 numbers early next week. Here are the Jan. 31 numbers:

     Brimson -- 34 this year, 88 last year

     Cloquet -- 53 this year, 74 last year

     Eveleth -- 30 this year, 83 last year

     Grand Rapids -- 25 this year, 72 last year

     International Falls -- 48 this year, 91 last year

     Poplar Lake (Gunflint Trail) -- 43 this year, 96 last year

     Snowbank Lake -- 42 this year, 96 last year

     Tower -- 35 this year, 96 last year

     Two Harbors -- 24 this year, 81 last year

Tags: daily updates, sam cook, winter severity, outdoors, winter, snowfall