Just because you wear a giant groundhog suit doesn’t mean you can predict weather like the real thing.
Despite the Oxford groundhog mascot’s Feb. 2 prediction of an early spring, Old Man Winter returned with a vengeance Saturday night, dumping about 8? inches of the dreaded white stuff on the Oxford area.
From 11 p.m. Saturday to noon Sunday, four village DPW laborers worked non-stop, plowing and salting all the streets, downtown parking lots and municipal sidewalks.
DPW Superintendent Don Brantley, who put in 10 hours himself, said had the snow been ‘light and fluffy,? it would have been an ‘eight-hour project.? But because the snow was so wet and heavy, it took workers 13 hours to clear it all.
‘When you’re pushing heavy snow, you have to go a lot slower,? Brantley said.
High winds and heavy snow from Saturday night’s storm caused about 300 customers in Oxford Township and Village to lose power, according to Lorie Kessler, a spokesperson for DTE Energy.
‘The vast majority of customers who are out will be back by the Super Bowl,? said Kessler on Sunday afternoon. At that time, she reported there were about 150 customers in Oxford still without power.
‘In our service area, we have about 15,000 out in southeastern Michigan,? Kessler said. ‘About a third of those are up in the Thumb area. Another third maybe in Oakland County, which is not a lot for Oakland County.?
On Monday morning, Kessler reported 300 Oxford customers were without power as ‘additional outages continued throughout the day (Sunday) and into the evening.? However, she noted, ‘Most of the customers who were impacted as a result of the storm that came through Saturday were back up by yesterday (Sunday) evening.?
Oxford Fire Chief Jack LeRoy said firefighters investigated ‘roughly 20 calls? regarding downed and/or arcing wires, and located six or seven actual wires down, including one on Lakeville Road (across from Beaver Stair) and one at Sanders and W. Drahner roads.
One downed power line landed on a 200-square-foot storage shed at Crossroads for Youth on E. Drahner Road around 4:17 a.m. Sunday.
‘The weight of the snow brought it down,? LeRoy said. ‘It landed right on the building.?
Despite the arrival on scene at 4:22 a.m., firefighters had to wait until 5:34 a.m. to actually begin extinguishing it because ‘the power line was energizing the building,? according to LeRoy. Once DTE Energy crews arrived to shut the power off, firefighters could begin their work.
The fire completely destroyed the wood and steel shed and all its contents, making for a total loss of about $4,000 in the chief’s estimate.
In the village, the storm caused a power pole in the backyard of 40 Moyer St. to break and collapse at 7:07 a.m. Sunday morning, leaving some residents on Moyer, and later surrounding streets, without power. DTE workers were able to install a new pole later that day.
In the front yard of 36 Moyer Street, a large tree split and half of it fell as a result of the heavy snow.
Oxford Schools were closed Monday due to all the white stuff, the district’s third snow day this year.