Frost deeper than a normal November

ALLOUEZ - Not many people dig this cold weather, but can you actually dig it?In recent memory, this is the earliest that frost has been an issue at the Allouez Catholic Cemetery.“I've been here eight years, I've never experienced this,” said Jim Lang, the cemetery’s superintendent of grounds.Lang says the cemetery ground is already frozen six to eight inches deep. He says normally, frost is just beginning to form.“We can heat,” said Lang. “We have a frost tooth that we can chip the frost out when it gets too deep, but it is taking approximately 15 to 20 minutes longer at this point in time, this year.”The Green Bay Water Utility says normally this time of year the frost depth is below a foot. The water utility has already measured this year's depth between a foot and a foot and a half. For a typical winter, it gets between four and five feet deep. The water utility says its preparing in case it reaches last year's levels of six to seven feet deep.“If that happens, we're going to be busy again, like we were last year,” said Nancy Quirk, general manager for the Green Bay Water Utility.The Green Bay Water Utility says it received its first no water call of the winter on Friday. It says that and the frost depths should serve as reminders to protect your pipes.“Most water laterals will be coming into basements about six feet under the ground and into their meters and things, so just make sure that area is kept with some heat into it,” said Quirk.Back at the cemetery, propane is already in stock just in case the ground does become as frozen as last year.“We would actually put a heater on a grave the day before and thaw that out and then the next day we're ready to go,” said Lang.Lang hopes that doesn't have to happen for a few more weeks. Like mostly everyone else, he's hoping for a warm spell to get the grounds closer to normal.