Hello Forest County Residents!
Things are looking up in the coming days because the cold snap has finally ended! That was a difficult few days to get through for everyone, especially the brave individuals that had to work out doors. Although it was extremely cold it was not the coldest time ever recorded in the area. The most frigid days occurred in the recent past in 1996 between January 31-February 4 when high temperatures ranged from the teens to twenties below zero; lows dropped to the thirties to fifties below zero. The state’s record coldest temperature was set at -55 F set in Courderay WI on February 2nd and 4th (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/wiwx.php).
The Forest Republican Newspaper for February 7th displayed headlines like “Brutal Winter Causes Woes for County Highway Dept.” which explained that the county had already used its total yearly allotment of road salt which was 3200 tons. Another article was entitled ” Local Groups Join Forces to Save the Deer” which detailed the white tail deer population freezing to death in their tracks and the effort of the Northern Buck hunters and the Crandon International Off-road Racing Association to rescue the animals from starvation by leaving feed throughout the area.
Living in Northern Wisconsin in the winter can definitely be a challenge! Feel free to share your memories from this event in history.