WAUKESHA, Wis. — So far, this new year has not only brought some unusually warm temperatures to Southeast Wisconsin, but it also brought a lack of snow.
"It's not happening this year and I don't know what's going on," said Paul Terry, the owner of Paul Terry Services Lawn Care and Services.
Since Dec. 1 of 2022, only 5.7 inches of snow have fallen in the area up to this point. That's a foot below normal. These are numbers that Terry, who runs a snow removal and landscaping business in Waukesha, says he thought he'd never see.
"We're probably making a quarter of what we're normally making in the wintertime," said Terry. "If it continues to be this way, I'll have to readjust and come up with some new way to get money in the door."
Terry says his company has gone from going out to plow one to two times a week, to one to two times a month.
But it isn't just Terry's business that's being affected by the mild weather. On Tuesday, The Rock Snowpark posted a message on its website saying that it was closed due to rain and warm temps. A similar message was also posted to the ski resort Little Switzerland's Facebook page, which closed citing that the slight drizzle and above-freezing temps will make it more difficult to set up.
"It's unusual, I'm not accustomed to this," said Terry.
But with a couple of months left until winter is officially over, business owners say they have hope that things will turn around.
