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STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: A lot of people here are going about their business with a quiet smile of satisfaction. They're finally getting what feels like normal winter weather. After five years of wimpy winters, Duluth has had several days of frigid temperatures and now lots of snow. At the downtown hardware store, Stanley Morrow says business is brisk.

STANLEY MORROW: A lot of snow shovels, brooms because it's a light snow. They're using brooms also. The salt for the sidewalks, we're getting a lot of lock freezes. And people buying de-icer for the locks.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: A lot more people ride the bus on a snow day. That way they can put off digging out the car and avoid the slippery roads.

AUDIENCE: I love the snow. It's the cold that I haven't cared for lately. But this is winter and everybody talks about how they love Duluth and love the area and the Four Seasons. So it's about time that we got some.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: And there's your bus.

AUDIENCE: And there's my bus.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Some people love the snow even while they're digging out. It probably helps that school was canceled for the day.

AUDIENCE: It's good for skiing.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: You're going to get away from this shovel and get to ski today?

AUDIENCE: Yeah.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Where are you going to go skiing then when you're done?

AUDIENCE: Spirit Mountain.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: You're planning to meet some friends?

AUDIENCE: Maybe, if they can get out.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: What do you think of canceling school today?

AUDIENCE: I love it. It's the best.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Down the street, some kids are playing hockey in a driveway. One of their dads cleared it early in the morning.

MATT QUINN: My name is Matt Quinn, and I'm playing hockey with my friends.

ASHLEY BIRDSEYE: I'm Ashley Birdseye.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: And what are you doing today?

ASHLEY BIRDSEYE: I'm just playing with my friend Rachel, shoveling holes in the yard.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Shoveling holes? What for?

ASHLEY BIRDSEYE: It's just fun.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Apparently, there are lots of different ways to enjoy the snow. At Chester Bowl Park. Kids are making the most of their snow day on the sliding and skiing hills. And the manager of the park, Thom Storm, is enjoying it as much as the kids.

THOM STORM: We have something that happens very rarely. We've got over a foot of dry, wonderful powder snow. School's canceled. Chester Bowl usually closed on Monday, but we open the hill today. And we've got a lot of kids squealing with delight. Having a blast.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Chester Bowl Park is in Duluth's snow belt up the hill and away from the lake. That's a fact of nature according to Craig Sanders. He's a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Duluth.

CRAIG SANDERS: We've got East to Northeast winds coming in to the terrain along the North shore, and when it hits that the air rises fast and will increase the snowfall amounts there.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: By early afternoon, the airport had 22 inches nearly twice as much snow as downtown. And Sanders says it won't be as windy as it often gets after a big snowstorm. That's good news for Mark Forseth, the city auditor at Hillsboro, North Dakota, 45 miles North of Fargo. They got almost 2 feet of snow.

MARK FORSETH: Even without wind yesterday, I saw people with drifts just about up to the roof of their house. And yeah, if we got a wind of any sort, it would really turn it into a mess.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Road crews have their hands full as it is. Mark Forseth says it'll be a while before Hillsboro streets are cleared.

MARK FORSETH: Hopefully, by the end of the day, we can have one lane plowed. But to get things cleaned up completely, we might be looking at another two days, maybe three days.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: The storm is winding down, but some in Northern Minnesota are still hoping to match the second highest 24-hour snowfall record. Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio, Duluth.