Thursday 1-25-2024 Athelstane, Dun-Good Trails Closed

Greetings and welcome!

It is 36, foggy, and cloudy. The snow is taking a beating. It is as soft as marshmallow creme now. Light rain is expected to start about 4pm and last into tomorrow morning. It could change over to snow if it gets cold enough tonight, but neither the rain or snow will amount to much.

About the biggest severe weather concerns is the chance of wet roads becoming glazed by ice if we go below 32 overnight, and the fog as warm air overruns the snowcover. That fog can become freezing fog pretty quickly, so pay attention to temperatures.

As a snowmobiler I am no fan of the fog. I have an old saying.. Fog is a snow thief. The long and short of it is that the high moisture content of the fog makes the air very effective at transmitting heat. As the warm air overruns the snow pack that fog is ideal for melting the snow.

I looked ahead at the 10 day forecast. All that I see for high temperatures is high thirties and low forties. On four of those days the overnight low temperature is (At least slightly) below 32. The other six have overnight lows of 32 or above.

There are a couple of storms showing up on the GFS about two weeks out. I don’t hold out much hope for them but you never know. Right now they both look like rain or mostly rain.

It sure would be nice to catch a break but I am not seeing that in the short term.


Both Athelstane (Near North Riders) and the Dun-Good trails have closed to all traffic.


UPDATE!!!

1/24/23 Dun Good Riders Trail Update – TRAILS CLOSE at 6:00 a.m. Thursday January 25, 2024 to all traffic, ATV, UTV and Snowmobile. There is not enough snow for us to move around for the snowmobiles and the warm temperatures, limited base, minimal frost and new weight limits on the UTV’s make it impossible to maintain a safe riding environment for all machines. Until we have sustained below freezing temperatures or significant snow we will be in this holding pattern. In 2024 Mother Nature, Old Man Winter will not be receiving Christmas cards and no Feliz Navidad for El Ninio. We appreciate everyone respecting this closure.

At the moment the only systems that haven’t closed are Ranger City Riders and River Road Riders. Everyone is closed to ATV/UTVs except for town roads. County roads are closed to ATV/UTVs until May.

I sure would welcome some good news for once!!

Have a good one and thank you for visiting!

RJB