Manitoba snow-lovers grow impatient as puddles pool from warm weather

While many are relishing in the unseasonably warm December weather in Manitoba, snow-lovers are starting to grow impatient waiting for winter to finally wake up.

On Friday, Dauphin hit 10.9 C breaking the old record of 2.6 C in 2003.

That was only one of 23 records broken, and CBC meteorologist John Sauder said it won't stop there — he's calling for temperatures of above 0 C until Dec. 10.

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That doesn't come as welcomed news to Yvonne Rideout, the executive director of Snowmobilers of Manitoba (or Snowman Inc.)

"We were hoping for freeze up and snow, not this warm weather that we're getting right now," Rideout said. "We're hoping people can get out on the trail — some areas [it's] bad right now, it's wet."

Sauder said 18 records were also broken in Manitoba on Thursday.

"There's 32,000 registered snowmobilers in Manitoba ...that are disappointed!" Rideout said.

The weather is putting a strain on the snow trail creation process, Rideout said. Temperatures need to be consistently below freezing in order to build a firm trail base for when the snow finally does fall, she added.

"None are officially open. Most trails don't open until between Christmas and New Years, but were hoping that's not the case this season," she said, adding riders are starting to get antsy.

"I noticed Facebook posts saying, 'Let it snow.' People [are] passing around the message and wanting to get the sleds out."

No snow for boarders, skiers

The snow woes aren't only affecting snowmobilers. 

Jason Rohs, the president and owner of Adrenaline Adventures, said they're doing what they can to make enough snow to spread across tubing hills at their Headingley location.

"We are hoping for cold weather. Sorry, Winnipeg!" he said.

They're even turning on the snow-making machines and running them for hours in the middle of the night to keep up with the constant melting.

"It's slowing things down," he said. "We're basically watching the different weather channels on an hourly daily basis and we just have to jump at the [right] times. We make snow at some ridiculous hours. We came out at midnight to make snow for four hours."

Adrenaline Adventures was hoping to open this weekend, but Rohs said they'll be pushing that date back.

"With the mild weather, we can't jeopardize the hill getting damaged with sloppy, dirty boots," Rohs said. "We're going to postpone for another week and we will fire up the snow making equipment at –6 C."

Meanwhile, Karin McSherry, executive director of the Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba, said all of the cheery weather is discouraging for skiers in the province.

"It's not that you can't ski, but of course you're not going to want to use your good skis, because you could be going over rock or gravel," McSherry said, adding there aren't any groomed cross-country ski trails open yet in Manitoba.

"No precipitation in the forecast at all, so we're disappointed and discouraged but winter will come, we'll be skiing."

It isn't uncommon for ski trails to open in late December or early January, but that isn't ideal either, McSherry added.