• Tuesday-What'sUP December 31 - 06:34 am

Barb Bouwkamp said she was recently awakened at 4:30 a.m., to the rumbling of the Sno-go and dump truck brigade on Pewabic Street in Laurium, as they widened the street.

She hurriedly stuck her coat, boots, hat, mitts on and grabbed her new iPhone to see what kind of photos it would take of this snow removal process. Barb said they're always interested in the snow removal brigade when it comes down their street, cutting the snow banks back to make room for more snow to come. It is quite the process with dump truck after dump truck being filled up, then driven to wherever they dump the blown snow, only to return to be filled up again and again as they make their way up and down all the streets in Laurium.

So, if you were wondering why they are up and at it so early in the morning, there's your answer, they have to be in order to get all the streets widened when there is a lull in the falling snow. Otherwise, every day there is measurable snowfall, they're out there just keeping the roads plowed.

All this snowblower talk reminds me of the animated blower shot that's appeared on these pages before, but always is a fun repeat:

Looking at all the snow in these pictures, makes me wish we had some here in Iowa....but not quite this much.

It's always fun to watch that process. We rarely get
that much out here so we don't see much of it. Nice
shots, Barb!

We don't have that type of equipment around here, just plows which push the snow back over the entrance to our driveways after we've spent all that time digging a path for our car.:<

I remember these types of plows back as a child living in Calumet. We had to make 'steps' to get up and over the high straight banks to go skiing or snowmobiling etc. I always get a kick out of the plows we have here in Sheboygan, WI, a plow in front of our garbage truck! Then if we get a storm on garbage day, they cancel garbage pickup because they can't get both done. We don't get as much snow as you do up the Copper Country, but I always thought every city still needs their own plows. Thanks for getting up so early and sharing these pictures, and bringing back memories.

Thanks for getting out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to take these great pictures. Snow removal is a service that is taken for granted but one that is highly essential up here.

NOBODY does it better than the boys U.P. here!

Thank you all and may the Good Lord Bless you in
2015!!

I agree with you, Duane, their service is essential - even down here below The Bridge where I live. I always thank my lucky stars for their dedication to their jobs.

Is all that snow still hanging around since
November? Even though November totals were near
record levels, it looks like December fell far
short of keeping up the pace. . . even falling far
short of last year's December monthly total.

Anything can still happen this season though.

As of Dec. 30th, 2014 we are 52-inches behind the snow total as of 12-30-13.

That'll wake ya up in the morning. No snow on the ground here in SE-MI.

I always wonder about the people that have to park on the street. Then there are the people that can park off street but only have the length of a car to park and their neighbors are so close and where do they put the snow.

Allen,
There is no street parking at night in the winter up here. The local police log has many incidents of police involvement with this resident or that one fighting about where to put their snow. Neighbor against neighbor. Sometimes its snow wars!!!
The first winter we lived here, I pushed snow across the street from our house as I didn't know where to put it. All we had was a scoop; no snowblower. There was no house in that spot but the man living next to the empty lot told me in NO uncertain terms, do NOT push my snow on HIS side of the street as the plow then pushed it into his driveway. We had a house on a 50 foot lot. I didn't know where to put the stuff. I had never seen so much snow in all my life.

Not as much snow as last year by the looks of
it....:)