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| Snow for sledding and skiing, and ice for skating, is melting away quickly throughout Minnesota because of a recent warm spell. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images) |
Duluth, Minn. — (AP) - It's the end of December and the city of Duluth has closed its skating rinks because the ice is too soft.
It's just one example of how warmer-than-normal temperatures have inconvenienced Minnesota fans of winter recreation, even in some of the state's most northern cities.
Subzero temperatures are nowhere in the forecast and the early season snowpack is melting away and has been softened by intermittent freezing rains falling from dreary skies.
Many outdoor skating rinks in northern Minnesota are closed and trails for cross-country skiers and snowmobilers are in sorry shape.
"The warm weather and the rain certainly have not helped the snowmobile trails," said Steve Hennessy, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Trails and Waterways specialist in Tower. "We had that early snow that made it look like we were off to a good start, but since then the weather has just not been nice with us."
The state-groomed snowmobile trails are open, but he said snowmobilers should be careful. "A word of caution is to pay attention to ice conditions and look for obstacles and hidden rocks," Hennessy said.
At the Duluth International Airport, there was 20 inches of snow on Dec. 16, but just 9 inches Tuesday, said Kurt Mayer, a National Weather Service meteorologist. International Falls had 7 inches on the ground and Cook 9 inches, he said.
"We got a nice batch early in the year, but the long-range outlook had us warmer than normal, so this shouldn't be too much of a surprise," said Mayer.
Temperatures in International Falls have been running about 20 to 30 degrees above normal for the past few days, according to the service. Lows have been around 25 to 30 degrees.
As a result, local law enforcers have closed some ice roads on Rainy Lake to automobile traffic. "People are still using ice houses, but it's getting marginalized," said Koochiching County Sheriff's Deputy John Kalstad.
The average temperature for December at Duluth International Airport has been about 1.1 degrees above normal. While there's light snow in the state forecast for Thursday and Friday, there's no prediction of significant accumulations.
"It looks like more of the same is ahead," Mayer said. "We do have a little cold coming in, but all it will do is bring us back to normal temperatures."
The Nordic trails at the Spirit Mountain resort in Duluth were closed earlier this week because of soft snow, although the downhill runs remain open, said Briana Johnson, Spirit Mountain director of marketing.
Other facilities are also feeling pinch of warm weather and rain. "We have managed to keep our (skating) rinks open for the most part, but the weather has impacted the ice quality," said Brian Karich, Hibbing Parks and Recreation athletic supervisor. "The ice is too soft right now."
At Carey Lake, three miles outside Hibbing, 10 miles of cross-country trails remain open but trails are icy, Karich said.
However, 15 kilometers of classic and skating ski trails at Snowflake Nordic Center in Duluth are in excellent condition, said owner George Hovland.
"You'd hardly even know that it rained up here," said Hovland.
The center, 870 feet above Lake Superior, gets a good dousing of snow whenever the wind blows from the northeast across the lake. He joked, "We just have a lot of people that pray a lot."
It's also been bad in southeastern Minnesota, where officials are recommending that people wear life jackets before venturing out onto ponds, reservoirs or backwaters of the Mississippi River.
"Ice is never safe, but with this warm weather, I would say it's worse off," said Department of Natural Resources Conservation officer Mitch Boyum of St. Charles. "It's definitely not safe." (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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