Snowmobiling on pause as hot weather and rain hit

Less than two weeks after snowmobile trails opened in southern Wisconsin, hot, saturated weather has brought the season to a transient halt.

Most trails began closing on Tuesday, with the remainder shutting down Wednesday. The exception was in Kewaunee County in eastern Wisconsin, where trails there were scheduled to close Thursday.

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“Trails are reported to be in poor condition due to temperatures,” according to a Kewaunee County report on the Wisconsin Snow Report website. “Riders are urged to use caution … and are urged to watch out for water, slush, icy patches, drifting snow, fallen trees/branches and thin ice on waterways and swamps.”

Wisconsin is home to 25,000 miles of snowmobile trails, but only trails in the lower half of the state opened, most on Jan. 12 and 13. However, in northern Wisconsin, the immense majority of trails have yet to open this season, an economic setback for tourism.

SNOW RIDE — Snowmobilers take advantage of plentiful snow cover for a ride Monday on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail in Cottage Grove. With warmer weather, mixed precipitation and rain showers moving in this week, conditions have closed the trail systems for much of the state.

SAMANTHA MADAR, STATE JOURNAL

Only a few trails in Sawyer, Bayfield and Iron counties were open Wednesday, but all were in either fair or indigent condition. And with temperatures predicted to be in the middle to upper 30s beginning Thursday and rising to highs in the low 40s next week in northern Wisconsin, it’s likely that trails will be forced to close.

“There has been nothing normal about this season at all,” the White Thunder Riders Snowmobile Club in Iron County posted on its Facebook page. “Let’s show thanks for the riding days or weeks ahead because however long these trails last is more than we would have if we stayed closed.”