One Of The Shortest Shipping Seasons On The Mississippi Ends Early

This shipping season on the Mississippi may go in the books as one of the worst ever…

The season ended on Thursday, when the last barges of this year headed downriver through Hastings.  Because of the premature winter weather, this is the earliest closing since the Army Corps of Engineers started keeping records in the 60’s.  This year also marked the second-latest opening, and flooding and silt halted shipping for nearly a month during the summer.  The season normally ends around early December in Wisconsin and Minnesota.