May snowstorm buries Northwestern Wisconsin (with snow totals)

A May snowstorm dropped more than a foot of snow on parts of Northwestern Wisconsin on Thursday, closing schools and causing very difficult driving conditions.

The National Weather Service received reports of about 16 inches of snow in the Ashland, Hayward and Mellen areas.

Ashland had recorded a high temperature of 82 degrees on Tuesday, and Hayward hit 78 degrees just two days before the heavy snow.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation advised no travel on some highways during the day Thursday as plows worked to catch up on clearing the heavy, wet snow.

Some schools were closed all day Thursday; a few others opened in the morning, but let students out early.

There was a very rapid drop-off to the precipitation to the west, with the Twin Ports receiving no snow.

Here's a list of snow totals from around the area, as relayed by the Weather Service through Thursday evening; some of these may not necessarily be final amounts:

1/3: A barricade wasn't really necessary to deter traffic from this road off Wisconsin Highway 77 east of Mellen on Thursday after a May storm dropped more than a foot of snow on the area. As much as 16 inches fell in the Ashland and Hayward areas. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)

2/3: Dave Harju of Bayfield walks in the ravine beneath the Iron Bridge in Bayfield on Thursday, May 2, 2013, after a May snowstorm dropped about 10 inches of snow on the city. Harju was checking on some fallen trees up the trail. He said he was down south and missed the previous snowstorm in April - and that Mother Nature must have saved Thursday's storm until he was back in town. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)

3/3: An Iron County snowplow clears snow from Wisconsin Highway 77 in Upson, along the Gogebic Range, on Thursday afternoon, May 2, 2013. A May snowstorm dropped more than a foot of snow in parts of Northwestern Wisconsin late Wednesday and Thursday. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)