FRANKLIN, Wis. — The Milwaukee area sees record-warm temperatures. But that news is just another blow to some snow businesses that have struggled all season.
"This is gorgeous even if it is a little windy,” says Mary Peter as she takes a walk near the The Rock Sports Complex in Franklin
Mary is one of many people who were out enjoying the warm February temperatures but not everyone is celebrating them.
"We are pushing through. It is going to be spring-like conditions, but we will get winter back here by next week,” said Riley May, general manager at The Rock Snowpark.
He says because they have a big enough base of snow all their ski hills and tubing can open up.
Other hills are not so fortunate. The website for Sunburst in Kewaskum says it is closed to preserve their snow.
And in northern Wisconsin on the Upper Penisula border, Whitecap Mountain Resort owner David Dziuban says they battled the warmer winter weather all season and lost.
"We were making snow around the clock for seven or eight days in a row and then the warm weather hits. We lost out on our whole Christmas and New Year's holiday week,” says Dziuban.
Alpine Valley Resort says they are in a similar situation. They say even if they have snow everyday for the rest of the season they would not be able to make up for what they lost.
Whitecap Resort says their situation is even more dire with losses more than $700 thousand dollars, they have laid off staff.
"It is an economic disaster is what it is,” said Dziuban.
Climate scientist from the University of New Hampshire, Elizabeth Burakowski studies the effect of the weather on winter businesses.
"There's absolutely dollars that you can put on this. So across the State of Wisconsin. value added activity for snow activities, totals up to about $83 million,” says Burakowski.
It's why May says they are pushing through and just trying to get word out that despite what it feels like today, winter is not over.
"Skiing, snowboarding and tubing in this weather is fun,” said May.
The Rock is open its normal hours until 9 p.m. tonight. With the warm weather, it would usually make snow all night; however, it can't make snow until the temperature hits 28 degree. That is not suppose to happen until Saturday.
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