Well, it happened again. 

Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, has forecast six more weeks of winter.

While the forecast apparently holds some clout throughout the rest of the country, it doesn’t mean much to Minnesotans.

We are used to winter, even if we don’t always like it.

Just this weekend, we were reminded that Mother Nature hasn’t forgotten about Albert Lea when we received 5 inches of snow, and on Tuesday more snow fell.

It’s only the beginning of February, and we fully expect more of the same to come, even though we are always hopeful of an early spring.

Albert Lea has actually been lucky this winter after coming out of the most unbearable winter in 35 years. National Weather Service climatologists said the Midwest experienced the coldest and most severe winter in 2014 since 1979. Albert Lea received a total of 55 1/2 inches of snow, and the Albert Lea school board added five more days to the calendar to make up for having so many snow days.

Before Tuesday’s snow we had recorded 20.7 inches of snow so far this winter, according to measurements taken at Albert Lea’s wastewater treatment plant.

We have had a few weeks of mild temperatures in the 30s, and the snow was melting.

Looks like winter is back. Let’s take a deep breath and continue on.

We’ve lived through it before, and we can do it again.