So, who's got snow?

[ChuckN]

Major itch to ride the trails....what are the reports from around the state for snow?? Dying to know what happened up north.

Brainerd, Ely, I-Falls, Arrowhead...

We got blasted with rain out of that storm, so only about an inch or so is on the ground...lakes are skating rinks. That's my report from west-central MN.

[jerkin'm]

We got about 7" in Wayzata..rode out towards Waconia...more like 10" out there...Sore back from getting stuck in the chest deep drifts.

[harvey lee]

10" of ice ruining stuff.

[Johnny_Namakan]

I live in Virginia and we got about 6-7" in town. However, I was at my shack in Orr and they only got about 4". The major stuff stayed on the southside of the Laurentian Divide north of town here. One set of tracks went down the Arrowhead between Buyck and Orr Saturday afternoon, but the trail still needs about 6-8" before the groomers will get out there. They're still looking bad. On the posititve, if you stay south of Voyeugers Park and keep it south of the Divide then the snow is looking descent and travel from Hibbing through Virginia and over towards Giants Ridge should be descent and amy start getting groomed soon. I'd check with the snowmobile clubs on specifics though. All in all, we still need more.

[ChuckN]

I didn't ask you jerky... I've got all the great ice and fishing a guy can ask for and you have the snow.

Shucks. Not even northern MN has anything from what I've heard. Thanks for the insight Johnny

[Sergeant Slabber]

We also got about 7" here in EP. I got the old Panther fired up and took it out for a spin for the first time. Pretty fun taking that thing through the powder

[Reynolds]

There is probably 6"+ around the Mille Lacs Lake area as of now. I rode from Milaca to Onamia yesterday and didn't find the riding to be too bad. There were quite a few other snowmobilers out also. I don't really expect this snow to stick around as it is supposed to be in the 35-40 degree range everyday this week. I was watching the weather last night and Paul Douglas was saying that this was an odd storm in that it was not followed by a typical cold snap from cool Canadien weather. From what I have read this mild winter has been attributed to more the westerly winds (Oregon and Washington weather) than el nino.

[nitroant]

Go to a HSOforum called Johndee and look around. There is plenty of good info to be found on there about snow conditions for several areas. There are webcams to view and he updates his prediction for upcoming snow chances every morning.

[ChuckN]

I read Dee's site often, and I hope he's right on the 10 day outlook....

Did parts of NE South Dakota get any snow? Ground snow analysis shows snow that way...

[SledNeck]

Good snow amounts on the Tower end of lake vermilion. Snow get thinner as you head toward the cook end. Looks like the storm totally missed the crane lake area. Grand Rapids got like 1/2" of snow.

Rode like 80 some miles yesterday, I believe.

[lawdog]

I don't know about NE South Dakota but SE ND got snow. Valley City-Jamestown and South got dumped on over the weekend while I was there. Valley City had about a foot, they pulled all the plows for over a day... Not far away though and they didn't have snow. Sounds like Fargo got hardly any...

[wall_guy_101]

Decent amount of snow around the princeton-zimmerman area. Got plenty of riding in (80+ miles) but it dosen't look to stick around. Got take what we get this year it seems.( and (Contact Us Please) am i sore)

[ccarlson]

ChuckN,

Just a skiff on the ground around Brainerd/Nisswa. Lakes are ice w/o snow. I was surprised to read that Mille Lacs area has snow from the other post up a ways.

Just got back from the Gunflint Trail myslef and had some good riding but the trail was not groomed. Didn't need to be since there was nobody else out snowmobiling.

Look at the photo sharing forum and the new years day pictures by Tom Wilson. That is exactly what it looked like where I was riding on the gunflint trail on new years day. Snow covered pines and rocks. It was beautiful. The friends we were with said it was better sledding and scenery than Yellowstone. Like I said though, not groomed. If they get traffic up there, it will get ugly real quick.

ccarlson

[Reynolds]

There is definitely snow from Milaca to Mille Lacs. Granted there is not a whole lot of snow, and the ditches have had a lot of traffic, I am still going to go out and put on some miles today.

[Reynolds]

Just got back from a 75 mile ride up around Mille Lacs area and trail conditions and ditches have vastly deteriorated over the past two days. I won't be heading out again until we get another 4" +.

[ChuckN]

Thanks for the heads up ccarlson! I've gotten mixed reports from up there also, but they were closer to the lake (hardly any snow)....and the snow maps looked like snow up the gunflint.

lawdog, yes, VC got hit good with snow. Lots of snow from VC west to Minot I guess got lots. Tempting...

[wallydiver]

In Thief River Falls we have hardly any snow. HOWEVER, about 30 miles north from here they have a lot more. Pretty much everywhere northwest of TRF and all of north and northeast North Dakota have some good snow. Only thing stopping us further than that is the Canadian border.

Sooooooooo, Sunday morning I'm going to Karlstad, then up to Lancaster, over to Hallock and work my way back to where we started. Should be about an 80 mile trip. Can't wait!!

[iffwalleyes]

We got snow here in Valley City. I came home last night and had about 8" in my yard still. I took a ride on the lake today quite a few people out on the ditches too when I was driving to the lake.

[SnowAngel]

Still praying for snow in all of northern MN. Not much snow in the Crane Lake area or up around Grand Marais.

The Ely area is supposed to get some snow over the next few days so there may be better riding this weekend.

All lakes in the Ely, Babbitt and Tower area have been staked. The Ely Igloo Club has been packing and grooming some of the smaller local trails. The Grassy Lake Trail is still nice for riding, but no more Chainsaw Sisters, as it was recently sold and turned over to the Forest Service. Bummer!

Riding is doable on the lake trails to get around from Ely to Babbitt to Tower.

[iffwalleyes]

We picked up another inch two nights ago and after today the temps aren't going to make the snow go anywhere for awhile.

[Sergeant Slabber]

We picked up another 4" or so last night of nice powder. Should be fun after work today

[DEADhead]

I must live in the Bermuda triangle this year. All the snow that comes through my part of the start disappears and never hits the ground.

The triangle runs from north along the red river from Ortonville to just south of Grand Forks, over through bemidji to walker, down to Mille Lacs, and back to Ortonville. Looking at the snow cover models, this "triangle" area has been left out of much of the year's snowfall.

I would never have believed it if you told me this year that the metro would get 2-3x more snow than Detroit Lakes through mid-January .

What a crazy year; the poor snowmobile is going to die in my garage this year of loneliness.

[Sergeant Slabber]

I'm suppossed to be coming up to Hawley for the "Old Timers" run the first weekend of Feb. This will be my first time, but by the looks of it, it's not going to happen. You've got to go south for snow...does sound wierd doesn't it!!

[ChuckN]

Got back from Lake of the Woods and put some miles on the sled running around the lake, what a relief.

North of Thief River Falls, around Middle River/Strathcona there is some rideable snow on the ground. The trails along the highway and ditches looked fun. Wish I could have ridden around more. Sure was a cold one this weekend!

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Berglund Mich was decent this weekend. From Hurley east there was snow and looks to be getting more. That area should be sleddable from now forward.