Greetings and welcome!
We had some snow last night and a few snow showers again today. About 1:30am it was really coming down with big flakes falling hard and fast. It was very exciting to see. Unfortunately it didn’t last very long, and this morning only found a little over an inch on the ground. Other places may have had more or less, so let’s call it 1-2″.
It stuck in the trees being wet and heavy snow, so this morning found a pretty winter scene out of the back window.
Behind the storm we are expecting a big blast of wind and cold air. We are expecting temps in the teens tonight and tomorrow, and with the strong winds we are looking at wind chills of about -10. Monday night the low of -5 and more wind is expected to take those wind chills to the -20. Tuesday we are expecting to get into the 20s, and Wednesday-Saturday look like the 30s.
I talked to a few ice fishermen that spent time over the weekend pulling shanties out onto the ice. Their estimates were that the ice was in the 10-12″ range and there were driving out in spots. They were also still avoiding a lot of areas like the narrows that take longer to freeze. There has been progress on the ice thickness in the past week, but still be very careful if you venture out.
Addressing the ultimate question of will we be able to ride next weekend, I am very skeptical. A couple of inches will help those back forest roads and lake riding, but still probably is not the silver bullet that will open the trails. It is a start though, and maybe a trail system or two that was close last week saw enough to get the season started.
At the same time, the high winds and cold blast should be very good to the UP lake effect snow belt. They have had a rough start too, and finally things are looking up for that area.
I will know a lot more as the week unfolds and reports start coming in again.
Thank you for visiting and have a happy safe and prosperous new year.
RJB