GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Good grief. What else can you say when we’ve received double the average snowfall for the season, missed a snow event to the east and have gone half month without snow on the ground?

In the heart of winter, we officially picked up 0.6 inches of snow this past week. Here’s where we stand now for the season:

You can see why there isn’t any snow on the ground. The map below shows the recent widespread warmth that has dominated the eastern half of the nation. Muskegon and Kalamazoo had their warmest first eleven days of January while Grand Rapids tied with 2020 for the fifth warmest start to January with an average temperature of 35 degrees.

With that being said, there’s still snow to play in if you are willing to travel.

There isn’t any snow heading this way this weekend but there will be a fair amount of sunshine.

Temperatures will be will be quite comfortable Saturday with highs in the 30s. Sunday might be a little too warm for your liking with highs in the 40s. If you have Martin Luther Kind Jr. Day off, Monday’s temperatures will remain in the 40s with a chance of rain.

Here’s what the weather map looks like for Monday (MLK Day). Not ideal.

It appears we will have to endure one more week with above-average, snow-eating temperatures accompanied with above-average precipitation that will likely fall as rain during the first half of the week. The second half of the week looks more promising for snow especially across Northern Michigan.

The snow forecast through next weekend is interesting. If we were lucky enough to receive any snow, it would favor later in the week. The 06z Jan. 13 GFS seems to correlate with the projection of warm temperatures. Meanwhile the 00z Jan. 12 ECMWF model has a fair amount of snow. I’ll update with latest model runs Friday. At this stage I would think the GFS model is correct.

During a pattern such as this, I’m always looking ahead to see when it will become colder and snowier. When you are only into the middle of winter, there’s almost always a pattern flip to colder and I think it will be later this month.

Once the flip occurs, it appears it will stick and hold through much of February. There’s indications this colder pattern very well could last through April.

SKI RESORTS

Despite the warm temperatures of late, ski resorts across the northern Lower Peninsula are open and ready for you. The good news is that temperatures will be sufficiently cold enough at night to make snow.

Schuss Mountain / Shanty Creek Resort: Open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with 30/42 runs open and 5/7 lifts.

Cannonsburg: Open noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Should be an excellent weekend for tubing also with rates at $25.

Bittersweet: Open Friday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with 6 runs open.

Timber Ridge: Open at 10 a.m. with the Double #1 and Triple open.

Crystal Mountain: 47/59 runs are open serviced by 7/8 lifts. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 pm. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Caberfae Peaks: Open Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with 4 lifts servicing 24 runs. You can check out Shaggy’s Copper Country ski demo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Boyne Mountain: Open Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with 35/63 runs open serviced by 7 lifts.

Boyne Highlands: Open Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 8/10 lifts 41/53 trails.

Nub’s Nob: Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (break between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.). 5 lifts servicing 20 runs.

Tree Tops Resort: Open Friday thru Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2 lifts servicing 15 runs.

Snowmobilers: Actually looks like a good weekend, especially Friday and Saturday. A couple of my friends went to the U.P. last weekend and they said it was the best trail riding they’ve experienced in five years. They rode around the Paradise area and said they ran across very few riders, which surprised me. I also saw a post from a Renze employee (Munising) wondering where the snowmobilers have been. She said the trails are great but rider’s are way down this year (so far). My guess is that gas prices, especially diesel, is keeping some down state riders at home. Regardless, checking the most recent reports up across the Eastern U.P., they seem quite good especially north of M-28.

This is the third consecutive year in a La Nina pattern and this typically means a pullback or winter thaw at times. The latest 8- to 14-day temperature outlook is an example of that pull back.

The Snow Conditions Report is sponsored by Schuss Mountain at Shanty Creek Resort.