This month has set a record for the amount of snowfall in December, according to statistics from the Decorah Water Department.
After 2.5 inches fell Friday and another 1.5 inches Saturday, the total for the month, as of Monday morning, was 32.2 inches. And there's more snow in the forecast for today (Tuesday).
The previous record was 32 inches in December 2000. Rounding out the top five for heaviest snowfall for the month are December 1969, 24 inches; 1968, 23 inches; and 1990, 22 inches.
Could this winter possibly be worse than last year? During the winter of 2007/08, 53 inches of snow fell with 17 inches falling in December, 12 inches in January, 20 inches in February, three inches in March and one inch in April.
Working on Christmas
A mix of rain, sleet and snow hit the area late on Christmas Day - keeping county road crews hopping. Christmas morning they were plowing snowdrifts created by high winds and restocking salt and sand in preparation for the storm that came that night.
Crews were able to get most roads open Friday. Assistant County Engineer Brett Wilkinson said the areas where the roads were clear before the rain came were in the worst condition because they became completely glazed over with ice. Areas that were packed with snow before the rain came actually provided a better driving surface.
Wilkinson said county dump trucks and maintainers had slid into the ditch "here or there," but most were able to get themselves out, or were pulled out by another county vehicle.
"There's been nothing major - no injuries or equipment damage," he said. "When they're riding the ditch line - trying to use a wing (plow) to get the snow back as far as possible so the wind doesn't blow it back in, or you hit a hard drift -- it will pull you into the ditch."
