Snow and wind lead to the Minnesota Department of Transportation to either close or issue a “no travel” advisory throughout most of Southwestern Minnesota on Friday. In Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Kandiyohi, Pipestone, Redwood and most of Yellow Medicine and Renville, all state highways were closed as of 2:15 p.m. on Friday. Blowing snow caused drifting with drifts reaching up to six feet in some areas, and near zero visibility. Throughout the affected area, stalled and stranded vehicles added to the problem, blocking the roadways without the ability to see them in advance. The negative temperatures made the situation more dangerous, as emergency crews worked to rescue stranded motorists. The forecast for this week remains above zero, offering an opportunity for the area to thoroughly clean up the accumulated snow.

Ron and Pam Schultz have been nominated as the Chippewa County Outstanding Conservationists of the Year for 2022. Ron and Pam were nominated by the Chippewa County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) for their conservation and farm stewardship efforts.

Each week, the Advocate Tribune will share a photograph from our archives for you to “guess who”. To submit your guesses, send us a message by email to jstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com or message our Facebook page. We will publish the answers the next week.

Wow, what a week we had last week with some plowable snow, but also bitterly cold temperatures and very dangerously cold wind chills. If you were outside at all on Thursday or Friday, it literally hurt a great deal on exposed skin. The National Weather Service was busy issuing Blizzard Warnings, Winter Storm Warnings, and Wind Chill Warnings as we headed into the Christmas/Holiday Weekend.

January 2022 -Prairie Fire Wordsmiths, a business born of the literary minds of Christine Utz and Jessie Hennen offered workshops in the local area. -Prairie Five Community Action developed a tablet lending library.