Summer snow shocks parts of the western U.S.

While much of the United States basked in summery temperatures, perplexed residents of Utah, Idaho and Montana woke up to snow yesterday.

Winter just won't quit in the Northern Rockies, where a swirling upper-level low left Alta, Utah with nine inches of snowfall on Tuesday - their third highest one-day snowfall total in June ever.

The snow came as a wave of heavy rain drenched southern Minnesota early Wednesday, flooding streets in Mankato and causing mudslides that forced the closure of some highways.

Meanwhile, Nebraska is still reeling after deadly tornadoes tore through the state, and New Mexico is battling wildfires that threaten to destroy Native American homes, farm land and livestock.

this picture was posted Wednesday morning in kamas, Utah 

Winter just won't quit in the Northern Rockies where an upper-level low was swirling early this week. This picture was taken at Lamoille Canyon in Nevada where 3-4 inches were recorded

A photo provided by Glacier National Park shows the Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park, Montana on Wednesday June 18

Mackinac Island Michigan Still Has Snow!

Believe it or not, there’s still snow on Mackinac Island.

“We have the last man standing, I think, in terms of snow piles,” said Bradley McCallum, general manager of Mission Point Resort, where a pile of the white stuff refuses to die.

Tourists and locals have been flocking to the resort to take pictures of the snow pile, which has somehow managed to hold on long after the rest of Mackinac Island emerged from the deep freeze of an especially harsh winter.

Although the snow has obviously been melting, the pile was still more than 3 feet tall on Tuesday, June 3, said McCallum.

The pile is on the south side of the resort’s conference center along Main Street, amid some pine trees. It’s got some shade, and daytime high temperatures on the island aren’t quite as hot as downstate areas — reaching about 70 degrees on average these days — but snow in June is still somewhat logic defying.

“It’s so strange because it’s really nice on the island,” McCallum said. “The streets are full of people and we’re looking forward to a really good season.”

The snow pile is yet another reminder of the harsh winter northern Michigan endured this year. Tourists have been making road trips to the Upper Peninsula recently to see the ice that remains on Lake Superior.

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory reported that Lake Superior was still about 2.5 percent covered in ice on May 30.

The onslaught of subzero temperatures locked Mackinac Island in a deep freeze that delayed the traditional start of tourist season by several weeks and caused some hardship in transporting people and freight between the island and mainland.

But everything has largely returned to normal in that regard, said McCallum.

Is June a record for snow on the island? It's hard to say, he said. Most believed the snow had all melted on the island a couple weeks ago, but an old 19th century photo circulating among locals shows snow with a June handwritten date on it, indicating this may not be the first time the Straits area has finally thawed long after downstate.

The resort is offering a free night's stay to whoever can correctly guess the date on which the snow pile finally melts, he said.

“I think it’ll be sometime after the 15th,” he said. “It looks small, but there’s still a good chunk of snow there.”