B-r-r-r-r!!! Bitter cold puts Ely in deep freeze

Winter seemed to arrive right on time in Ely, and since December the area has been bombarded with snow and had at least the usual complement of subzero temperatures.But that was just an appetizer.The main course arrived late last week, with an Arctic-express of cold air that plunged temperatures well below zero, created bitterly-cold wind chill conditions and led to a barrage of school closings and event cancellations.Local temperatures fell to 25-below zero Friday morning, combining with biting winds to create wind-chill readings to about 40-below. Predicted wind chills beyond 50-below did not arrive as of Friday, but were possible heading into the weekend.Nearly every public school in northeastern Minnesota, including Ely, was closed on Friday and prep sporting events - including a ski meet scheduled for Saturday at Hidden Valley - were scrapped as well.Concerns for student safety, especially those who are transported by school bus, prompted the move.After consultation with district transportation director Jeff Jankowski, Bruels decided around 5:15 a.m. Friday to pull the plug.“We were concerned about the wind chill,” school superintendent Tom Bruels said Friday. “This morning at 5 a.m. there was a wind chill warning. The concern is if you have a problem out in the country those busses get cold in no time.”Bruels said Ely was one of “the last holdouts,” as most area districts called off Friday classes the night before.As of 1 p.m. Friday, the temperature in Ely was 8-below and the projected high was 5-below.Frigid conditions were forecast through the weekend, with highs estimated at 11-below both Saturday and Sunday, and the coldest readings were projected for Sunday night, with a forecasted low of 36-below.That would mark the second straight winter that Ely temperatures dipped to 30-below or lower. 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 local weather observer Pete 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.