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Not a flake in sight in New Ulm

City dodges the blizzard bullet

Staff photo by Clay Schuldt After predictions all week of a major winter storm carrying up to a foot of snow for Friday, New Ulm woke up to clear streets and not a flake in sight.

NEW ULM –It was supposed to be the storm of the year. The weather stations were predicting its arrival a week ago in the midst of record breaking heatwave.

The question was not whether we would get snow, but how much?

New Ulm residents went to bed Thursday night expecting to wake up to a blanket of fresh powder. Instead they awoke to confusion as nothing had accumulated since the night before.

The temperatures were below freezing and the winds were strong, but aside from a few flurries Thursday night the ground was bone dry. The predictions for New Ulm were off, but the damage was done.

Concern for the rough weather caused New Ulm Schools to cancel classes the night before. Superintendent Jeff Bertrang said the decision to call off school came at 9:30 p.m. Thursday night. Bertrang spoke with bus drivers about the road conditions. A driver bringing the girl’s basketball team back from Granada ran into snow in several communities including St. James. It was believed the snow would continue to move north.

The radar predicted a blizzard heading this way.

Bertrang said another factor in canceling school was that Brown County was under a blizzard warning all through the night with a no travel advisory posted.

Bertrang said the school generally waits until the morning to see the extent of the snow, but the blizzard warning never went away.

“We’re still under a blizzard warning now,” Bertrang said shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday.

The problem with waiting until morning is it makes it difficult for parents to make alternative plans regarding childcare.

Bertrang said this time the school was “hoodwinked” by the weather. No snow had accumulated by Friday morning and the streets remained dry well into afternoon. Bertrang said he could have biked to school today.

This school year has seen a few late starts and one early release due to the weather but this is the first full snow day and ironically there is no snow.

The weather report was wrong and for some its easy to blame the weather services for inaccurate information, but the predictions were only wrong for New Ulm. Several communities surrounding New Ulm were hit by the blizzard.

In Mankato, the snow accumulation was between eight to 12 inches with St. James receiving half a foot and the storm is not done yet.

New Ulm was able to kick off its Fasching celebration without any snow but the weekend is far from over and the snow could still fall.

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