Final snow tally of 2008-09: is it over?

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

As the final piles of snow melt from one of the snowiest winters in more than 50 years, the snowfall figures from October to April have been added up.

The envelope please! The number stands at 138.78 inches, according to local weather spotter Dick Shoquist, who lives in North Allis Township.

He has been keeping records since 1990, so it isn?t clear where the final total will rank among previous seasons, but not many folks, including Mr. Shoquist, remember this much snow.

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The Presque Isle County Road Commission?s headquarters in Rogers City has been tracking the snow since 1955, measured 157 inches this past season, ranking it as the second snowiest season in 53 years.

In the Onaway area, the snow started October 26 with .2 of an inch from a storm that brought thunder and pea sized hail. December was the snowiest month with 54.3 inches. It was more than double the year before when 21.2 inches of snow fell.

February 2009?s 31 inches wasn?t the most this past winter, but it did top 2007-08?s best at 28 inches in January 2008.

The only remaining question left is is the word ?final? appropriate to use? Probably not, as May has been known for its share of snowstorms, including a blizzard in early May 1923 that left about a foot of snow on the ground.

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