El Niño In The Northland, Part 2
A Warmer Winter Will Affect Northland Businesses
Through the first half of November, the average temperature for Duluth has been the second warmest on record. While we have cooled off to more seasonable values, lately snow cover is still lacking. Northland businesses are feeling the impact because of this, some for the better, others, for worse.
“Well I’ve heard that It’s going to be a mild, dry winter. Mother nature is going to kind of pass us up again this year and not help us out with natural snow making, but I don’t know, I think the conditions lately have been whatever mother nature decides it’s going to be,” said Mike Ohara.
Snowfall is very important for many Northlanders and Northland businesses. If the weather stays warm and snowless as it has done most of this month, residents are going to need to find different types of recreational activities this winter which will hurt some businesses while others prosper.
“I really like it when there is not too much snow because the animals move more freely, I can go anywhere,” said Scott Van Valkenburg.
With the hunting season ongoing, milder temperatures have allowed hunters to spread out more and not be limited to areas near roads and trails like they would be during a snow filled winter. This has created a boost in sales for hunting related businesses.
“If you don’t get too much snow, it’s a lot more fun, deer still move around all over the place. If you get a lot of snow, they start to yard up, they get in groups around the cedars or if someone is feeding them, group up around those places,” said Scott Van Valkenburg.
But other businesses would prefer a lot of snow. Last year, November brought Duluth more than 16 inches of snowfall, three inches above normal for the month. All that fresh powder meant a great start for the ski season. This year is a much different season on the slopes.
“We opened up on the 17th, and we had some of our runs available for folks on thanksgiving. That is not predicted for this year. We are standing in about 65 degrees I think it is right now,” said Mike Ohara.
The early season rainfall is not good news for the ski resorts either. Many locations are near or over their monthly average for rain, causing potential problems with ski hill maintenance.
“We just want snow, we want snow that stays. We want temperatures that don’t melt off that snow or contribute to that early season rain that we have been seeing over the past couple years. That’s real tough on the hill,” said Mike Ohara.
Having a warmer winter definitely limits its options for skiers, looking for hills or trails.
“For recreational cross country skiers, a warm winter like that is pretty useless frankly. For the racers, they have to get into their cars to drive and find snow. And that makes life a little tougher too,” said Mick Dodds.
Snowfall is what drives winter sales at the Ski Hut in Duluth. But folks who work here know winter weather patterns are quite a bit from year to year. So they’ve had to adapt and become a four season business.
“Back in the day it definitely was winter dominated summer. It is not the case anymore. Bike season is getting longer and it’s getting more popular. So it is pretty much 50-50 as long as winter shows up,” said Mick Dodds.
While it doesn’t appear this winter will produce 100 inches of snowfall to make ski lovers happy, we will certainly still see our share of snow here in the Northland. It won’t be as much as some people would like, but that is just how Mother Nature is sometimes especially when El Nino is involved.
