Last week's unseasonable weather melted away hopes of snow for the holidays and forecasts as of Tuesday morning still held no promise of a white Christmas.
Though nearly 68 inches of the white stuff has fallen on the area so far this season, it is nowhere to be seen and little seems to be on its way.
"This is unreal. We should be buried in snow by now," said Aaron Moore of Vanderbilt, who after waking up to a green lawn Tuesday morning called to express his feelings to the Herald Times. He added that typically he would be spending this time of the year ice fishing or snowmobiling.
"I'm about to get my lawn mower out," Moore said. "I can't believe it."
According to Paul Beachnau, executive director of the Gaylord Area Convention and Tourism Bureau, the lack of snow has already hit local business.
"Our first big strike was the cancellation of the Snocross," said Beachnau of the event which was to take place at the Otsego Club last weekend, but was scrapped after unseasonably warm temperatures and rain wrecked the race track. He added that Dec. 26 to New Year's Day is often a big week for tourism, and that the area needs about a foot of snow to allow for the grooming of snowmobile trails and to get ski resorts running.
