Minnesota is one of the coldest states in the US. The record low temperature is -40 degrees. Fahrenheit or Celsius? It doesn't matter. When it's that cold, they're both the same. The weather patterns in Minnesota are perfect for producing large amounts of snow. There was at least 30 cm of snow before we arrived 2 weeks ago and there has been at least that much since. For us, snow is a novelty.
And a lot of the Minnesotans seem to enjoy it too - ice fishing and riding snowmobiles seem to be popular in this area. But the weather here also seems to be somewhat of an inconvenience It blocks the roads and footpaths and makes just about every surface slippery. For life to continue fairly normally, the snow must be ploughed, salted, sanded, and sometimes even carted away and dumped in the Mississippi.
But the weather here is more than just an inconvenience; it's also a health hazard. If the temperature gets above freezing during the day, the snow will melt, but then it freezes again when the temperature drops overnight. So in the morning there's a layer of ice on footpaths and roads, which has led to many serious injuries. And then, when the conditions are just right, you get freezing rain. Water droplets freeze as they hit the ground, creating a layer of ice on everything. Slick, frictionless, treacherous ice.
But this all begs the question, why do people live here? Which settlers got to Minnesota and thought 'Yes, this would be a good place to live. That snow and ice and freezing rain is not annoying at all.'? This kind of weather really makes me appreciate the Aussie climate, where you can go up a mountain into the snow and enjoy it if you want to, and if you don't, you can go about your business as usual.
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