Snow Clean-Up Methods

For those familiar with the Upper Peninsula, they know that in the winter months, the region picks up a lot of snow. Thanks to northerly winds off of Lake Superior, the snow can quickly pile up under the right ingredients. But it's not only lake effect that the peninsula receives but a good deal of system snow, too. Under the perfect scenario, the Upper Peninsula receives the most snow when a low pressure system forms around the four-corners region of the United States and tracks northeasterly, with a target near the Northeast portion of Lower Michigan. The snow produced by the system combined with lake enhanced snows sometimes produce storm totals in excess of 30". We haven't seen one of those epic kinds of storms in awhile, so we're overdue. Living up here, we need all the tools necessary in order to dig out.

Probably one of the greatest inventions ever created for someone living in the Upper Peninsula is the snow scoop, or also known as the Yooper Scooper. A couple of companies manufacture snow scoops in the U.P. and they are handy for any type of snow accumulation that needs to be taken care of. My dad has had his own snow scoops for years and now that I am in my own place, I have one myself. The majority of the time, I clean up my driveway with it unless the snow gets really piled up, then I resort to using the snowblower. Silver Bear Manufacturing of Atlantic Mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula is one such builder of the snow scoop and they also build snow rakes for the roof as well as include wheels to install on a snow scoop for those locations who may not get a lot of snow. The wheels help to move the scoop a lot easier on concrete and asphalt surfaces. Without the snow scoop, us Yoopers would be having more of a difficult time clearing all of that snow!

Now for those individuals with long driveways or for those who plow other people's drives, a snow scoops is definitely not the way to tackle that endeavor. The next best thing is to own a plow to push all of that snow away. There are a couple of different kinds of plows including the V-shaped plow or a straight-blade. More often than not, they are attached to the front of a vehicle, preferably a pick-up truck of a Jeep, but some people have been known to attach plows to the rear of a tractor. Whatever the case, a plow does make quick work out of cleaning a driveway free of snow. And for residents in the Upper Peninsula where it often snows days on end, a plow is definitely a handy thing to have.

And then you have the snowblower, which is what I have when I need to clear an excess amount of snow from my driveway. I don't have a real long driveway, so I don't necessarily feel the need to get a plow. Maybe once I get older, I'll probably feel more of a need to get a plow. But when I purchased my home nearly a year in a half ago, it came with a new Ariens snowblower. It really works well for breaking through any amount of fresh snow. Ariens brand snowblowers are one of the top brands out there, but there are many other good snowblower brands on the market. It's easy to find snowblowers at home improvement retailers such as Lowe's and Home Depot. And when you live in the Upper Peninsula, the wider the cut on the snowblower, the better when cleaning up after snowstorms!

So yes, when you live in snowy locales such as the U.P., you definitely don't want to go on the cheap when trying to buy something to clean up after winter storms. As I mentioned, there are a variety of options to choose from, and it'll all depend on the type of snow clean-up you have to do. So, consider your options carefully and make the most of a snowy winter after everything's cleaned up. It goes a long way in enjoying the most that life can offer.

It Keeps Snowing...and Snowing...and Snowing

Mother nature must have it out for us this spring. I thought our last snow event on the first day of the month would be it for this year. Sure, I could see a few snow showers and flurries in the air, but nothing accumulating; not until the new winter season at the end of this year. Boy, was I ever wrong. Our local National Weather Service is predicting anywhere from four to 12 inches of new snow from the latest storm churning to our south. The least amount of snow will fall along areas near the lakeshore to the most falling within the highlands.

I thought I would take some pictures "before" the storm arrives. As you can see in these photos, most of the snow is gone here in the city except for the piles. This particular photo is looking northeast and shows the last of the snow in the parking lot.

Here's a street view and shows the snow pile at a different angle of that in the previous shot. As you can see, there's really not a lot of snow in the neighborhood anymore!

A northbound shot of the same street. If you look closely, particularly around the edges, you can see a few snowbanks remaining.

Last but not least, a shot from the other end of the lot with a few remaining snowbanks.

There's actually quite a bit of grass visible around town. All it would take is one more "warm" week and all the rest of the snow would be totally gone. This latest storm will probably set us back a week and the weather gods are forecasting another impending snow storm of doom by the end of this week that could be quite similar to the storm of March 31 - April 1! So needless to say, winter isn't quite over yet here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula; not by a long shot. I'll wager a guess and say the snow might possibly be completely gone by May 1, but that might be overly optimistic. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope that spring will finally stay after this week's snow events. Although, we are due for a May snow storm!