Winter weather,

from p. 1 This week’s weather should help in chipping away at the snowfall deficit Wisconsin has experienced so far this winter. Snow fell on Tuesday and was forecasted to continue into Wednesday, with temperatures expected to cool later this week into more seasonal weather. Winter is only a month in so far, and Shea said there’s still plenty of time for the weather to change.

“We’re staying above average, but there’s still a lot of winter yet,” he said. “We’re just one month in and it’s going to go down in the books as one of the warmest Decembers on record. We had a warm start, but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to stay dry. It may mean that there will be less snow totals for the sum of winter, but there’s still quite a bit of winter left and time to make up for the current deficits.”

In the meantime, Beaver said not all is lost in winter recreation. In the past few weeks, he said the parks and recreation department was able to use the extended mild weather to do maintenance on the county park trails. Residents and visitors to the county have also taken advantage of the mild weather, with many people using the trails at Levis Mound for hiking.

“We’ve had phone calls from people and school trips to Bruce Mound that had to be moved, but overall everyone is very understanding and hopeful to be on the slopes soon,” he said. “These past few weeks have been a good opportunity for an extended maintenance season, and there are still quite a few people who have been trying to take advantage of the trails at Levis Mound even though they can’t snowshoe or ski. There have been people using the fat bike trails and hiking, and there’s been quite a bit of traffic up there in spite of these conditions.”

Saturday’s view of the slopes of Bruce Mound on opening weekend shows a clear dividing line between the tubing hill with man-made snow and the barren, grassy land surrounding it. The bunny hill for beginner skiers and snowboarders is planned to open this weekend. County workers say more snow is needed before they can open the ski and snowboard runs. For the latest Bruce Mound updates and hours, visit clarkcountywi.gov/brucemound.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO