Snowy Spotlight

Last year I had a fascination with Syracuse and focused on the snowiest city in the United States.  They ended up receiving 179 inches.  It was their fourth snowiest winter in recorded history.  Guess it was a good pick.  However, this year marks our second year of picking a snowy location following their season as well as ours.  And even though I will continue to monitor Syracuse, this year I will be following the season of Houghton, Michigan.

Houghton is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the Keweenaw Peninsula.  Is there anything better for a winter lover than to be located on a peninsula in the middle of Lake Superior?  With a population of about 8,000 and a town across the Portage Lake Canal of about 5,000, the area is big enough to be incorporated into our snowiest cities/towns.  In fact, if you thought Syracuse was snowy with 179 inches last year, Houghton averaged over 200.  They are said to be one of the snowiest, non-elevated, populated areas in the country.  And they embrace winter.  Michigan Tech, located in Houghton, has a winter carnival every year to celebrate winter that draws thousands of tourists.  The students even get days off from school.    Get this.  The bridge that connects the two towns has two levels in winter, one for vehicle traffic and the lower level for snowmobile traffic.  Pretty cool.

They love winter and celebrate the season.  This is a place I can appreciate.  That’s why I will spend this season, as long as it goes, following this very isolated area.  They haven’t received a lot of snow so far as lake-effect snow has yet to kick into gear.  Normally December is a strong month for that.  As of now they have received 18 inches with a chance for a couple this weekend.  

They keep great records, another sign of how much they enjoy the season and have more webcams throughout the area because of the school and their numerous outdoor trails than I have seen in most small cities.  Should be a fun little side project.  Besides, the more I see the long range models for this area, the longer I think we won’t be dealing with much.

I have added on the right a running tally that will monitor this friendly competition between Syracuse and Houghton.  Just for kicks, notice the complete domination that our area has right now over Syracuse.  Won't last long but funny to see.