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Ely’s spring sports teams were teased a bit in early and mid-March.
But April has hit like a hammer.
Instead of opening their seasons this week, the Timberwolves seem likely to face weather-related delays once again - thanks to recent storms that have covered fields, tracks and golf courses with a foot or more of snow.
While that’s all too common for spring sports athletes in the Ely area, it looked at least fleetingly that this spring would be different than recent years.
When season-opening practices began last month, both the softball and baseball teams were able to get on to their fields and the track teams enjoyed running outside.
An unseasonably mild winter made for a snow-free start to March and temperatures rose into the 50s a handful of days last month.
That evoked hopes that the high school spring sports season would start on time but several days of snow, beginning March 24, made it look like January instead of spring in the Ely area and much of northeastern Minnesota.
Temperatures plummeted as well and high school teams either took several days off because of a spring break at the school, or were forced indoors.
Forecasts show that Mother Nature is set to release its grip and temperatures are set to rise, but it figures to be a week or more before area fields are ready for action.
Ely’s baseball opener set for April 9 is all but certain to be postponed while an April 11 softball date with Greenway is a likely weather casualty as well.
The softball team could get its April 12 date with Mesabi East in, but that’s because of artificial turf on fields there.
An April 16 softball date at Mt. Iron-Buhl could also get the green light because of turf, but the bulk of Ely’s baseball and softball dates early on this month are in jeopardy.
The baseball team could be idle until April 19-20, when it travels south for dates against Kenyon-Wanamingo and Hayfield.
Rising temperatures this week could also clear the way for an April 11 season-opening track meet at Chisholm to move forward.
That would be welcome news for Helms, new girls track coach Jill Ellerbroek and the roughly 70 participants between the boys and girls track teams.
A year ago, all of the track teams’ April events were wiped out by weather.
Meanwhile, the high school boys and girls golf teams, which are part of a cooperative with Northeast Range, are at the mercy of area golf courses.
For now, the golfers are limited to hitting into nets and putting indoors, although their season isn’t slated to begin until April 22.
