The Mighty Siege of '10

Minnesota was under attack for a little over 24 hours this past weekend.  Between the non-stop snow, the terrifyingly low temperatures, and the unrelenting wind, many Minnesotans chose to withdraw immediately from the battle.

Many veteran Minnesotans are comparing this storm to the Great Halloween Snow Storm of ’91. With over 28 inches of snow, the Halloween storm was indeed historic, although it did not keep Minnesotans from Trick-or-Treating. This most recent battle, however fierce, did not manage to pile on nearly as much snow, with current estimates running between 18 and 25 inches, depending on locations throughout south-western Minnesota.

The storm laid siege to Minnesotans beginning Friday night, and held on through early Sunday morning. Many battle-hardened “snow storm troopers” ventured out, despite warnings from family, friends, and the Minnesotan leader, Governor Tim Pawlenty. Children, bundled up to their eyeballs, waddled through thigh-deep snow in order to give their parents some sort of reprieve from their general squirminess caused by the storm. Or perhaps the parents were sending their children out as ambassadors to sooth the storm.

In the Twin Cities, plows were called off the road because there was too much snow. Some snuffed at the paradoxical command, and it looked for a moment as if the snow would win.

Minnesotans, however, tend to be of hearty stock, and managed to hold out against the storm. While the battle of Troy, as depicted in Homer’s The Iliad ended tragically, Minnesotans triumphed. We managed to stare that storm in the eye and wait it out. To celebrate, as soon as they were allowed to, Minnesotans scurried out to drive to work, run errands, and even go Christmas shopping.

Some exciting things witnessed by this reporter:

*Children “playing” out in the snow. Most of these children were so bundled up they could hardly move, and stood staring at each other and at cars skidding by at 5 mph.

*Many, MANY cars in ditches

*7 foot piles of snow down the center of streets in downtown Rochester

*A Santa underneath a bridge on Cedar Northbound, attempting to remove the ice from his windshield wipers. It was a bad day for Santa to take the car, and not the sleigh.