Minnesota - As our long winter wanes, let's tally its winners, losers - TwinCities.com

"We're the people who love it when it blizzards," said Wendy Williams Blackshaw, marketing vice president at Mendota Heights-based Sun Country Airlines, which flies passengers to warmer climes. "There's nothing I like better than a good 80-below wind chill."

Not everyone is so giddy. Farmers worry the thick snowpack will delay spring planting. Hospitals report an increase in slip-and-fall injuries. Retailers know spring fashions are a tough sell in an endless winter. And ice dams have caused so much damage that insurance companies had to summon "catastrophe teams" to cope with all the claims.

The economic ripples of this winter are likely to last longer than the snow. Grain prices already have risen as markets worry about floods and planting delays. Snow removal budgets are shot. And as property insurers face a new wave of wintertime claims, rate hikes may be looming.

"We know 2009 was a bad year (for claims), and 2010 is probably going to be a record year," said Mark Kulda of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota.
...
The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport rarely shuts down completely for weather, but this winter it did — twice. And like most communities, the airport blew through its snow removal budget in a big way. The airport's budget was based on 40 inches of snow. So far, it has had double that.
...
Traffic accidents: When snow falls, accidents rise. After dozens of snowy days this winter, traffic accident numbers have risen sharply. The Minnesota State Patrol said it has responded to 14,521 crashes since Dec. 1 — 25 percent more than in the same period last winter.

2008: Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar displays her lack of knowledge on global warming

Klobuchar first replied that you only have to go outside or "talk to resort owners" to see the effects of human warming in Minnesota.

2008 video: Klobuchar claims that global warming is causing "decreasing snow" that is harming Minnesota ski resorts