Gile goes viral with record snowfall

Gile, Wis., a small “suburb, of nearby Hurley, is used to early heavy snows. However, the recent week-long accumulation of over 50-inches have media throughout the midwest scrambling to cover what is the region's biggest snow story so far this season.

More than 50 online news outlets and counting have picked up on the story in the last four hours (as of 5 p.m. Friday). And although meterorlogists and journalists are hastily researching exactly which snow records have been broken; one thing is certain, this snowstorm in Iron County near the state line has already made history in more ways than one.

In addition to the Weather Channel, online versions of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and TV online stations NBCNews.com and CBS Local have weighed in on the dumping. There has been over 500 mentions on Google News for Gile in just the few hours the story went viral.

Originally a sawmill village on the Gile Flowage, excellent inland lakes recreational fishing is a mainstain for this thinly-populated area along the Montreal River that forms the border between Wisconsin and Michigan. Now a section of Montreal (pop. 810, 2010 census) Gile still retains its own ZIP Code, 54525.

The National Weather reported 37 inches in nearby Hurley; while Ashland and Bayfield counties recorded snowfalls in the teens and 20-inches range.