Northern Minnesota Winter Storm Triggers School Delays, Heavy Snow Warnings

A fast-moving winter storm swept across northern Minnesota around March 12, burying communities from Hibbing to the North Shore under heavy snow, forcing school delays and closures, knocking out power and leaving roads hazardous across the region.

Residents in Hibbing and across the Iron Range spent Friday digging out from a major snowstorm that dropped up to a foot of snow overnight, according to Mesabi Tribune reporter Marie Tolonen. Hibbing street crews worked through Friday afternoon clearing what photographer Mark Sauer's images captured as mountains of heavy, wet snow from city streets. The storm caused power outages and difficult commutes throughout the area.

Conditions were even more severe along Minnesota's North Shore, where a blizzard warning was in effect with forecasts of 16 to 24 inches of snowfall. The National Weather Service warned that power outages were possible from wet, heavy snow and winds gusting to 60 mph. A winter storm watch covered multiple northern counties beyond the immediate North Shore corridor.

The storm's reach into the education system was extensive. Cook County ISD 166 and Lake Superior Schools were among those closed outright. The College of St. Scholastica also shut down, as did Moose Lake Schools, Pinewood Cloquet, Summit School Duluth and Superior Public Schools in Wisconsin. Duluth Public Schools kept buildings open but canceled all activities. Several districts shifted to e-learning days, including Barnum Public Schools, Blackduck Schools, Carlton Schools, Cloquet Public Schools, Esko Public Schools, Floodwood Schools and Fond Du Lac Ojibwe. A separate wave of districts announced two-hour delays, among them Bemidji Area Schools, Cass Lake-Bena Schools, Red Lake Schools and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.

Closures extended well beyond classrooms. The Two Harbors Public Library, the Cook County History Museum and North House Folk School in Grand Marais all shut their doors. The Duluth Children's Museum, Halcyon House in Duluth, the Larsmont Trading Post on the North Shore and Welch Ski Village also closed. Happy Hearts Daycare in Superior and Superior Behavioral Services were among the non-school facilities that suspended operations.

The storm's broader statewide impact was significant. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, and travel was not advised in parts of Minnesota at the height of the storm. The Minnesota National Guard was placed on standby in various locations in southern Minnesota, prepared for activation should rescue operations become necessary.

The Mesabi Tribune noted the timing was fitting in a grim, familiar way: spring snowstorms during the Minnesota High School League's winter sports tournament season have become almost a regional tradition, unwelcome but unsurprising to anyone who has lived through a northern Minnesota March.