Western Wisconsin Still Digging Out From Weekend Snow

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Southern Minnesota is not the only region still digging its way out from Sunday's blizzard. Snow clean-up is also underway in Wisconsin.

Western Wisconsin got about 9 more inches of snow than the Twin Cities did this weekend, as well as 40 mile-per-hour winds.

Pierce County is about 60 miles southeast of St. Paul. From Ellsworth to Elmwood, cattle country is now the same bright color, and just about the only souls enjoying the landscape have four legs.

Al Thoner and his wife have dairy cattle. On Sunday, their pasture got pummeled with snow.

"They just seem to stand there and take it, they don't think nothing of it," Thoner said. "By the end of the day, they had like an 8-foot drift around them on one side, they just had a little tunnel to the water, one path out to the hayfield, but they were fine. They could have went inside the barn but they just sit outside."

Thoner has been spending his share of time outdoors with his crews as a county patrol superintendent.

"It's been pretty steady for the whole month of February. This will be one to remember," Thoner said.

His boss, Commissioner Chad Johnson, says the whole department has been working with some shifts lasting up to 18 hours.

"These guys have a lot of flexibility, a lot of endurance. And, you know, they have to keep a level head, keep a swivel, watch for motorists," Johnson said.

And they have had to get creative. The snow is so aggressive that standard plows would not cut it, nor would motograders. They are now on to plan C, sing front-end loaders to clear mounting snow drifts from the roads.

"We are just glad it's the end of February and not December!" Thoner said.

Officials estimate that clean-up could last until Friday.