43-below in Ely, colder nearby

Mother Nature saved the worst for last.Residents of Ely and the surrounding area suffered through more than 100 consecutive hours of subzero temperatures, but the most frigid conditions were at the tail end of the five-day deep freeze.Monday morning, temperatures in Ely sunk to 43-below zero at the weather station overseen by Vermilion Community College instructor Pete Doran.Several other area residents reported colder readings, some reaching 50-below, and Embarrass attracted national and international attention for its recorded low of 54-below, the coldest in the nation.Embarrass, which has traditionally battled it out with Tower and International Falls for the coldest temperature readings in the area, was bombarded with publicity after Monday’s readings.Embarrass made national radio and television news reports as well as popular internet news sites.And Tuesday, longtime Embarrass weather observer Roland Fowler was among the area residents interviewed on late-night television show Jimmy Kimmel Live, which dispatched a correspondent to the appropriately-named Cold Spot Bottle Shop.Even Ely got some attention when Betty Erickson, owner of Ely’s Mostly Moose store, was interviewed live on the air by comedian Ellen DeGeneres during her ABC daytime television show. The interview aired Thursday.National television news correspondents also came to Embarrass to shoot features on the cold weather and the residents who brave the subzero temperatures.In Embarrass, the attention has been overwhelming.“It’s just been crazy for pretty near a week,” said Adrienne Fowler, wife of the Embarrass weather observer. “Between the (Embarrass) township and Four Corners and here, the calls have come from all over.”Fowler said they’ve heard from media representatives or curiosity seekers from 39 states and two countries.“Most of the calls have been from Texas and California,” Adrienne Fowler said.In addition to the television interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Roland Fowler was interviewed on a radio program from Washington, D.C. and will be featured early this week in a piece that’s set to air on the NBC Nightly News.In Ely, schools were closed again Monday, giving local students a four-day weekend.Because of wind-chill warnings and expected readings of 40-below, Ely schools were also closed the previous Friday, Jan. 14.The most recent cold stretch was one of the chilliest in years, at least in terms of length.On three separate occasions last January, the local temperature dropped to 32-below, the coldest local reading since matching 30-below lows Jan. 21-22, 2000.The coldest temperature ever recorded in Ely by Doran, who has tracked Ely weather for 29 years, was 47-below on Feb. 1, 1996, the date Tower set a state record with a reading of 60-below.