12/01/2007 REPORTS: MN, IA, WI, ND, SD, NE

[Doug_Kiesling]

Ok, just got back in from the snow storm. That was fun...

Shot lots of footage and even got some stills (since I rarely take stills while on a video gig)

I shot these on Interstate 35W just south of Highway 13 while stopping to see if they needed any help. I ended up giving them a bungie cord to tie the bumper back on to drive home.

We both kind of said Oh Snap as the suv started to spin out and we did not know where it would end up. Heading back out for the night but I will post a video later on when I get back home.

http://www.bnvn.net/blog/images/DSC_0455_120107.jpg
http://www.bnvn.net/blog/images/DSC_0456_120107.jpg
http://www.bnvn.net/blog/images/DSC_0457_120107.jpg
http://www.bnvn.net/blog/images/DSC_0458_120107.jpg

[Joel Wright]

Well the storm is officially over now. The temp has risen above freezing and most of the precip is gone. Wow, what a storm! I am lucky to have retained my power so far with just a few interuptions. I'm one of the lucky few I'm afraid. Many of my relatives and friends/coworkers are sitting in the dark right now. Including my chasing buddy and ST member Jeremy Ludin.

Got one last burst of freezing rain which lasted a little longer than expected. Ended up with 1/2"-3/4" glaze. Outside the sounds of crackling trees can be heard, and sometimes a few crashing noises as limbs crash down.

Here is a shot of my back tree, under the weight of over 1/2" of ice...

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8453/icestorm1201070191ba4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Dan Cook]

Freezing rain still going on for me right now. We got around maybe an inch of snow before the changeover.

http://www.midwestchasing.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/IMG_1027.jpg

[Matthew Fischer]

well took me about two hours to just get into my garage after all the ice on my drive up a 35 degree incline. i'm sure my neighbors enjoyed the reving of my engine at 2am when i trying to get up the drive. but i finally got up there...after ice melter and a bit of walking on the ice and crushing it. oh well it was fun!

[David Draun]

In Dekalb, I took about 1/4" to 1/3" off my car in the campus parking lot. This was before the last burst of freezing rain which had semi-frequent lightning flashes. I believe had I waited for the last burst, there would have been closer to 1/2" of icing on my car. I never lost power last night, but there were brief flickers when the wind gusted. The ice would have been harder to remove but I have an electric ice-scraper! :p:p

[Doug_Kiesling]

Here is a short video from yesterday.

http://www.bnvn.net/blog/images/120107_winter_video.wmv

[Jeremy Ludin]

Quite an interesting little storm! Took an hour long tour of my town on foot and in that span seen/heard 10 trees fall, some very large. My neighbor's truck isn't faring so well. I also witnessed two VERY bright power flashes, even after the power was knocked out for well over an hour. This is my yard in the picture below. That tree has been around ever since I can remember. It produced spectacular colors in the fall. Sort of sad to see it go, but on the other hand makes for an interesting night!

http://i1.tinypic.com/8664mll.jpg

This was down the road a ways. You can see the power pole sheared. I'm not sure if this is what caused the outage or not.

http://i9.tinypic.com/6llmsf9.jpg

[Jim Zandonai]

Well I thought we might dodge a big bullet last night but the
power went out about 830pm. It just came on about 1pm today.
Apparently our enitre block was affected here.
Losing the power in the summer is one thing but in the Winter its something else. That was a cold night !

Anyway back in action here the Winter storm definately won that
round . I wasnt worried about losing power at first and almost lucked out
indeed but the expected Icing did occurr and indeed 1/2" or more of
icing was reported..
Lots of tree branches and big ones broken from last night..
Had some rain today but it wasnt freezing.
Here are some pics.. one from last night and a huge tree branch that fell last night then cut up to get off the road..

[Brandon Sullivan]

Well my pics will pale in comparison to everyone elses. But I will throw in my two cents, nice pics/movies to everyone thus far!!

[Mike Kovalchick]

When it became apparant that the Lansing, MI area wasn't going to see too much from this storm, I decided to "chase" up to my cottage located about 5 miles NW of NWS APX in Hayes Township, Otsego County and at the center of the Lake Michigan snow belt.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/apx/snow/snowfallAvg.php
http://www.wildernesspines.com/live_streaming_webcam.htm

I arrived Saturday afternoon to find..of all things..a horse and sleigh going up my driveway! :) The lake snow from the previous week had turned the whole Gaylord area into a winter wonderland.

The storm blew through Saturday night with SE winds gusting to about 30 miles per hour and dropping a quick 10" of snow followed by a period of freezing drizzle and fog. My cottage which sticks out on a pennisula into a lake was blasted by the winds creating waist deep snow drifts.

See below: (Moderator-please add "MI" to the states with a report.)