At the end of March, Duluth’s season snowfall was over 30 inches below normal. Similar conditions have been the trend throughout the Northland.

With only an inch of snow on the ground, many began preparing for spring. Marshall Hardware in Duluth has learned to be adaptable when switching from winter to spring stock.

“We were pulling all our rakes out and stuff and I pretty much taken all the shovels down, but now we’re integrating,” said Co-Owner Steve Marshall. “You gotta have both- we have shovels and rakes, seeds and salt. I think typically it’s every year it seems like you know home show’s coming up, so we usually get a weather-related thing.”

Vyla also lives in Duluth and says the snowstorm took her by surprise.

“I thought after Christmas I traditionally thought it would like you know start to get warmer, and then all this happened. So now I’m questioning if it’s gonna be warm for Easter or not,” said Vyla. “I didn’t think it was gonna snow this much.” 

With slick roads and heavy snow, Marshall Hardware Co-Owner Aj Marshall would like to remind everyone to stay safe and look out for others.

“Driving around carefully if they have to go anywhere. Make sure they’re prepared for any power outage that might happen with the heavy snow, and take care of the sidewalks and everything for anybody that might be walking down to the mailman or first responders make sure they can get around if they need to,” said Aj.

The good news about the timing of this storm is that by this time next week, the Northland will be back to highs in the 50s.

“I like the spring storms, they’re great,” said Steve. “The nice thing about these is we get a lot of snow or rain or whatever, but typically within a day or two it’s gone.”