Paula Porter/For the Mining Gazette An area resident of the Calumet area tackles the new snowfall early Monday.

HOUGHTON — A late-season winter storm hit the Keweenaw Sunday night and continued into Monday afternoon.

Snow totals ranged from 3 to 7 inches, said Dan Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Negaunee. The cause was a low-pressure system that brought in moisture as it came from the southwest.

“The airmass over the local area was pretty cold, so that all fell in the form of snow early yesterday into the overnight hours,” Thompson said.

In an interview around 2 p.m., Thompson said the snow was set to end shortly. As warmer air comes in from the south, the snow is expected to turn into rain showers lasting into Tuesday.

“The temperatures are going up above freezing, and it should stay that way over the overnight hours,” he said. “That should result in easier snowfall removal and roadside temperatures rising above freezing.”

The storm is not uncommon for this time of year; comparable weather often occurs into April, Thompson said.

“It may seem a bit out of the ordinary because this winter was so mild, but it’s not totally unexpected,” he said.

Even with Monday’s storm, this winter is “one of the mildest on record,” Thompson said. The primary driver is a “particularly strong” El Niño climate pattern, which floods the Midwest with warm air. The El Niño effect is also taking place against a backdrop of a warming climate in general, Thompson said.