Greetings and welcome!
It was quite a weekend around here for snowmobiling. There were a lot of people out riding. The word that I got was that the Paul Bunyan Riders Snow Fun Weekend at Waubee Lodge was a huge success, and some of my friends hit it pretty good in the meat raffles.
The weather was a little warmer than ideal. We ended up in the mid-30s both Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully it wasn’t very sunny. As a result of the warm temps, and in some places Friday drizzle, the snow was very packy. That helped to build whoopties on the trail and even make it thin in a few spots.
When I was talking to one of the groomers Saturday night he was having a very rough time. The snow was sticking to the drag and not really laying down well. He was dedicated to doing his best, but the conditions made it a challenge. If you hit ungroomed stretches Sunday that is likely why. They were out trying Saturday night, I saw it myself.
We have a moderately warm week ahead, and no snow in the forecast. Right now the forecast is for high temps to get into the upper 20s or low 30s. With clear skies on some days we can expect some cold nights. That will be good for letting the trails freeze up and the groomers to do their magic.
Next weekend the NWS forecast includes high temperatures of 37 and 36. Next Monday has me a little nervous. Looking at the 850 temperature maps I am guessing that we could go well into the 40s- or maybe a low 50. Once that is done the GFS is showing a cold snap and a couple of chances for snow behind it. If I got to write the script we’d skip the 40s and go right into the cold snap. Hopefully it goes that way.
With all of the snow last week people might want to start thinking about shoveling roofs. If you look at the roof in the groomer picture there is a lot of snow built up.
With all of this warm weather you will want to stay off of the lakes and rivers. Here is a report from Brian that you should read..
Waterways are not good, I would stay off until there are several days
of seasonable or even colder weather (or more than several days after
it turns cold if it stays warm any longer). The flowage from Boat
Landing 11 to Rapids Resort was very slushy today, not a fun ride.
Just to the left of the boat landing were about 20 or 30 square feet
of open water right on the shoreline. Never would of gone on it if I
had seen that initially. You could see a lot of water/slush in the
ruts from the few sleds that went on Anderson Lake. Stay off the
water!
It has been a terrible year for ice on the lakes anyway and the recent warm weather has made it worse by putting water onto the ice.
Saturday was very busy around Rapids Resort. A lot of people came and went before I had a chance to take pictures. I did get pictures of a few people and the pictures are below. I am always glad to go outside with you guys to get a picture. I like the break and getting to meet people. Thank you all very much for visiting and making us part of your weekend.
Now to the pictures!
Have a good Monday and thank you for visiting!
RJB