At Duluth’s Dunn Bros. Coffee on London Road, the world was still a little upside down Tuesday as a result of the first major snowstorm of the winter season.
“It was a very quiet day, kind of sleepy,” owner Scott Nelson said as the evening rush hour was underway. “Now that everybody’s plowed out and the roads are clearer, we’re busier now than we were this morning.”
Life in the Twin Ports slowly returned to normal as residents, businesses and government agencies cleared the snow from streets, storefronts and driveways. Snowfall totals from the Monday-Tuesday snowstorm reached 7.2 inches at Duluth airport and 6.4 inches in Superior.
There were more than 100 traffic accidents reported, but no serious injuries or fatalities, according to the Duluth Police Department.
The Duluth Transit Authority resumed its standard weekday schedule for regular-route service, with some minor delays due to road conditions, officials said in a news release.
In many neighborhoods, snow blowers were unearthed from garages and used to help jump-start the morning commute. For establishments like Nelson’s coffee shop, business improved noticeably as roads became more passable.
“(We) had about 50 percent of the business I’d normally expect on a day like today in November,” Nelson noted. “What surprised me was how much business dropped off compared to how much snow we got. It was the roads.”
Nelson said the storm wasn’t that bad compared to the impact of the first storm from last year, which slowed business for a couple of days.
“It’s November and you expect a few storms every year,” Nelson said. “We stay open as much as we can and a few people do come in and they appreciate it.”
