Trail Conditions 1-15-18

[Snow VP]

No change. Trails are dirt in some spots, ice in others. No-go South of Moran. Up by Tout Lake MAY be usable, but I can't guarantee it. We are not grooming, and I don't think anyone else is going to connect to us.

Forecast is calling for 1-3" here in Iggy today/tonight and 3-6" in Cedarville area as it is an East wind. That may give us the 1", but small shifts in East winds can really change our snow totals on Point St. Ignace. So lets keep up the good thoughts.

Ice Bridge:
Total ice cover gave way to absolutely nothing on Friday. Coast Guard closed the waterway on the North side of the Island on Thursday (for some strange reason - but this only stops the ferry from running the back side) Saturday it was froze all the way across, and opened back up somewhat on Sunday. Today it is about 1/2 way across, and partially flow ice.

Weeks weather:

M.L.King Day: Snow. High near 21. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of around 2 inches.

Tonight: Snow showers likely, mainly before 10pm. Patchy blowing snow before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 9. Wind chill values as low as -1. Northeast wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as -3. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 7. Wind chill values as low as -6. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 23. Breezy, with a west wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 18.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 30.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.

Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34.

Friday Night: A chance of snow showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37.

Saturday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 26.

Sunday: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 33

[Snow VP]

Its like old man winter looked at the daily forecast late yesterday afternoon and then said: Crap, gotta get some snow on teh ground yet today!

I told you that East wind direction was finicky. It was basically blue sky most of yesterday, then at 4pm, the winds shifted a bit, and total whiteout with howling winds for a few hours. We have some decent drifting here and there, and overall I would say maybe 2" on the ground. If we had a good base down I would run teh groomers, but I don't think we got enough to justify the time and diesel last night. Moran reports 2". Waiting on others to report yet.

Ice is 1/2 way to island, no ferry traffic as of now.

New forecast is calling for some EUP snow on Thursday & Friday, and a major UP storm early next week. Problem is 40d temps over the weekend are predicted again. All of that is too far out to count on at this point.

Still in a holding pattern here in the straits.

BUT, since I haven't been able t get you any trail candy, here is a pic out the office window yesterday afternoon, and of the ice in the bay early this morning.

[Go Fast or Go Home]

Thank you for the updates.

Big group of 20 have booked rooms at the Budget Host for January 31...February 1-2-3.

Hoping there is enough snow.

Don~

[Snow VP]

No time for a big update.
No changes.
Trails marginally rideable - early season conditions persist.
Warm on Saturday - any traffic will destroy the RR Grade.
Possible Storm on Monday - keep fingers crossed.