Lake Effect Snow

The Copper Country is a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Superior.  When  cold dry air from Canada passes over the big lake it absorbs moisture like a sponge.  When that air rises over the Keweenaw Peninsula it cools and releases that moisture in the form of snow.  Sometimes the flakes are large as in this picture, sometimes fine - almost like a fog.

David and Deanna off for a slog through the deep powder.

The clouds which drop lake effect snow proceed in bands, so that one minute you can have near whiteout conditions, and then sunshine a few minutes later.

Of course, if you're wearing a good sheepskin coat, the weather really doesn't matter.

After the storm.  Actually, this picture was taken a few days earlier, after a true storm caused by a low pressure system.  Our lake effect snows are often very localized.  The sun may be shining twenty miles south while here it is snowing heavily.  

Life in the trenches isn't that bad as long as you have enough sweet hay.