Messages

Lakeville's Messages: Winter Ritter Fest Set for Next Sunday

To help small businesses get started, Lakeville is participating in Open to Business – Dakota County.

Messages is a weekly newsletter published by the city of Lakeville. Lakeville Patch has it. Open to Business – Dakota County Small businesses provide the economic lifeblood in local communities. These small firms generate jobs and income that make an important difference to families and neighborhoods throughout the metropolitan region. To help small businesses get started, Lakeville is participating in Open to Business – Dakota County. The Open to Business program helps new and early stage businesses access the technical assistance they need to grow and prosper. This program will provide free one-on-one assistance from expert staff, customized to meet the needs of small business owners and operators. The program can also provide small …

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Phil Doesn't See Shadow: Spring Coming Soon, Says Famous Groundhog

With the recent cold snap, the prospect of Punxsutawney Phil predicting spring being right around the corner on Feb. 2 is a surprise.

UPDATE (Feb. 2): An early spring is coming to Lakeville. At least that's what Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog famous for making extended-winter weather forecasts, said when he didn't see his shadow this morning. ORIGINAL STORY (Feb. 1): Is winter going to last another six weeks here in Lakeville, or is spring right around the corner? Groundhog Day is on Saturday, Feb. 2 this year, and the recent Arctic temperatures are giving the day a bit more resonance than usual. According to the myth, if a groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter; if he does not, spring is right around the corner. Last year, Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter while Staten Island Chuck called for an…

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Show Us Your Snow Photos

Have a great photo of the snow falling? Share it!

The weather folks are predicting up to 15 inches of snow in parts of Dakota County today. How much has fallen at your house? Post your photos here!

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Editor's Notebook

Wicked Warm Winter in Lakeville: 50s in December

It's been 50 in Lakeville for the first three days of December. Will it last?

Old-man winter doesn't seem too interested in showing up this year. That or Mother Nature has a message for all of us: No December for you. The past few days, the weather has been more like October than December—and for winter-weary folks in Lakeville, it's a good thing. But it's tough to be weary of winter before it even begins. The National Weather Service says the typical high temperature on Dec. 1 in Lakeville is 32 degrees. This year it was 50. On Dec. 2, it's usually 31 degrees. This year: 51. Today is no different with a forecast high temperature of 55 degrees. In fact, as of 11 a.m., the NWS says it's 53 degrees in Lakeville. What gives? Thanks to a stationary Pacific storm that's drenching California with record rainfall, we're …

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Messages

Messages: Lakeville Offers Polling Place Finder; Mailbox/Snowplow Advice

Lakeville thinks there are some things you should do to your mailbox before winter—and snowplows—come.

Messages is a weekly newsletter published by the city of Lakeville. Lakeville Patch has it.

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Editor's Notebook

Groundhog Says More Winter; Weather Seems to Disagree

Phil the Groundhog saw his shadow, which usually means six more weeks of winter. But what if winter never really came?

Winter's going to last another six weeks here in Lakeville. Or, maybe whatever season we're actually living in will last another six weeks. Whatever the case, Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog famous for making extended-winter weather forecasts, had his annual 15-minutes in the spotlight this morning, and he saw his shadow. So, it's another six weeks of winter. Or whatever season 40s and 50s in December, January and February is called—we'll get six more weeks of that. It was 45 degrees on Feb. 1. The average high temperature is 25. And it's been like that for, what, the bulk of this wimpy winter? The upshot: heating bills are running 19 percent cheaper this year than on average according to the National Weather Service. We've …

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Lack of Snow Allows Lakeville Public Works to Tend to Other Things

With just 500 man-hours devoted to snow removal this winter—only 15 percent of last year's totals—Lakeville's public works has been up to other things.

A Winter That Refuses to Let Go

The region saw another inch of snow Wednesday morning.

The 2010-2011 winter is already the third snowiest ever recorded by the National Weeather Service. It's also becoming the winter that won't let go. The sun angle on April 20 is the same as the sun angle on August 21, according to the NWS. August snow is hard to imagine, so maybe that's why snow in late April is so bothersome. Yet the region was blanketed by another inch of late-season snow Wednesday morning. The good news: Spring is supposed to return by Easter with highs back in the 60s.

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Behind the Lens

Viewfinder: Winter Takes One Last Gasp in Lakeville

Spring is stunted in Lakeville as the area receives more than two inches of snow. Do you have any fun photos of snow? Post them here.

Minnesota in April generally means a couple of inches of snow, whether it's wanted or not by folks yearning for Spring's return. So it wasn't a surprise that Lakeville received more than two inches of snow Friday night and Saturday morning, leaving the ground snow covered. Farmington received more than four inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service, and the late-season winter storm brought with it temperatures 10 degrees below normal and wind gusts as high as 45 MPH at Lakeville's Airlake Airport Friday night. The snow should be gone by midday Saturday as temperatures climb into the upper 40s, according to the National Weather Service. And Sunday should be nice, as Spring returns with sun and temperatures in the mid 50s.

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Seven Things to Know About Lakeville's Snowplowing Rules

You may have noticed the 4-foot snow drifts that piled up after the most recent snowstorm, but did you notice Lakeville's winter parking restrictions went into effect Nov. 1?

The National Weather Service says more than 17.4 inches of snow piled up in Lakeville as a result of the Dec. 10-11 blizzard. Not only did the storm snarl traffic, and cancel events, but it was also historic. The NWS says it's the fifth biggest snowstorm of all time. Only four other storms dropped more snow than the 17.1 inches that fell at the International Airport—where the weather service takes its official snow and rain readings—the most since the 1991 Halloween blizzard. And with snow on everyone's mind, it's a good time to remind residents that the city of Lakeville and its Operations and Maintenance Department has posted snowplowing and parking restrictions policies on its website. The restrictions began on Nov. 1 and remain in …

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