Northern US folks?

[lilacsigil]

My lgbtfest fic is just about ready to go, thanks to zomgitskristin, and the xmenfirstclass ficathon assignment has just landed in my inbox (delicately, with pretty pink telekinesis).

So, of course, my mind turns to another fic entirely, written in a place where I just don't know enough to get started. I'm hoping that the lovely folks of Minnesota, Wisconsin and other northerly climes might be able to help. The fic will be set in Townsend, Wisconsin (this is a canon setting, so I can't change it) in early to mid November 1993. The town is about 1000 people, with a K-8 school, 30 miles inland from Lake Michigan, at a latitude of 45.33 degrees. It's on a lake, and has lots of holiday homes in summer, but not much going on in winter.

I've googled lots of details about the terrain, temperature and precipitation, but it doesn't fill in all the details. Fortunately, all the main characters are from out of town, so I don't have to have too much local knowledge in my narration, just local surroundings.

Questions:
1. How much snow is there around this time, and how does it fall? Are there blizzards, or overnight falls, or just nasty wet stuff that never builds up (the only kind of snow I have experienced personally)? Do you have to dig out your car?

2. How do people keep trailers warm in these climates? I'm talking about the trailers that people live in in trailer parks, not the ones that people travel with.

3. Do kids living about half a mile from school go on a bus with the more rural kids, or do they have to walk?

4. What do you call holiday homes by a lake, that people would travel to in summer? Cabins? Cottages? Bachs?

5. Are there any drastic changes in the area between 1993 and now that are going to trip me up when I google? Anything like, major rural roads weren't ever plowed then, or certain kinds of heaters weren't used?

Thanks for any help you can offer!