'This is gross': Not everyone a fan of warm December in Manitoba
The record-setting warm weather is a big change from the winter deep freeze that Manitobans are used to, but it isn't being celebrated by everyone.
Some businesses that rely on the snow are suffering, sending employees to the unemployment line while machinery sits idly by. Others are scrambling to adjust to a demand for bicycles, rather than skis.
"For me, I watch the news and everyone's like 'oh, it's going to be another gorgeous day.' And I'm like, 'this is gross,'" said Bernice Later, general manager at Holiday Mountain ski resort, located in La Rivière, about 160 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
"It's not the ideal conditions for our line of work, anyway. I'm stressed out."
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Some places in southern Manitoba could see temperatures hitting 10 C this week while last week, Morden was the hottest spot in the country at 14 C.
The temperature isn't even dropping below zero at night, which means Later can't even make snow with her machines. Typically, the snow machines are in production around Nov. 8 but the overnight temperature needs to be around –10 C.
"So we're very late," Later said. "But we're ready and willing as soon as the weather changes."
It's not just Holiday Mountain's business that is taking a hit. The grocery stores and gas stations in La Rivière rely on the tourism and the 20-plus Holiday Mountain employees who live there during the season.
"It affects the whole community," Later said, but noted the long-range forecast is calling for a cool down by the weekend.
"As soon as it gets to those magic numbers we're going to fire up the [snow-making] guns again and we're gonna see some snow covering the grass and we're all going to sleep a little easier."
'It's really, really bad'
Brian Burke, owner of Winnipeg's Olympia Cycle and Ski, said he's experienced a few other near-brown Christmases in his 28 years in business, but none was this warm.
"There's just no skiing at all. It's really, really bad. There's a lot of people with smiles, they like it, but not the skiers — none of us can get out," he said.
"People are coming in and actually buying bikes. It's bizarre, but the weather is really promoting that at least.
"But it's ski season. We all want to get out and ski. It's frustrating."
'It hurts'
Peter Vogiatzakis, owner of North Main Trucking in Winnipeg, said he's had to layoff many of his 40 employees.
His company does snow removal in strip malls and for the City of Winnipeg.
"This is definitely making an impact here, affecting a lot of families and ourselves, as far as [finances] goes," he said.
"It's pretty tough, especially with Christmas around the corner and no guaranteed income coming in. It hurts."
He has about 30 pieces of equipment for hauling snow and about 10 pieces for scraping streets and parking lots. The majority of it is parked in his lot.
Only about seven pieces of equipment are being used at the moment for hauling mud and doing excavation work.
"We have a lot of people waiting on standby," he said. "We're just sitting back and waiting for some snow."