A snow groomer is a machine designed to smooth and compact the snow, rather than removing it altogether. Early snow groomers were used by residents of rural areas to compress the snow close to their homes, and consisted of a heavy roller hauled by oxen which compacted the snow to make a smooth surface for sledging. With the invention of the motor car, snow groomers were replaced by snowplows and snow blowers on public thoroughfares, but remained in use at ski resorts, where they are used to maintain smooth, safe trails for various wintersports, including skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.
rueling: A man digs his car out of a driveway in Indianapolis on Monday after the city was hit by 30 centimeters of snow and sub-freezing temperatures.
Meteorologists have warned about the weather ‘dangerous, life-threatening winds’, that could inflict frostbite on exposed skin in just 10 minutes.
Temperatures are so cold across the Midwest that antifreeze in residents’ cars could freeze, the National Journal pointed out. The popular brand freezes at 34 degrees – and the coldest temperature on Monday afternoon was minus 35 in Crane Lake, Minnesota. ‘Skin freezes in just five minutes with a wind chill of minus 50,’ said HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen as wind chills are putting temperatures in northern Minnesota at 60 below zero.
