Cemetery workers provide state with frost level information

CUDAHY (WITI) -- Venturing outside may leave you feeling like a human icicle. But that's not stopping some from performing an essential and time-consuming service.

Butch Miller has spent nearly three decades digging graves -- no matter how cold it is.

"There's not that many cemetery workers that'll stay in this field that long," said Miller.

When you spend that much time grappling with the ground, you become a bit of an expert on frost levels. Right now, the frost layer, according to Miller, is about a foot deep. But this year's level is not as deep as what Miller saw in the 2012-2013 winter -- despite the bitter cold.

"We were at a depth of two feet deep in some areas," said Miller.

Miller says the snow acts like an insulator -- and helps keep the frost level more shallow.

The National Weather Service also tracks frost depth. They say it helps them calculate how much runoff there will be when the snow melts.

Miller tells FOX6 News that once you get about four feet down, the soil is actually pretty warm -- about 65 degrees. He says the deepest frost he's seen in his time at the cemetery was about three feet deep.