NORTHERN MICHIGAN -- While Mid-Michigan and Southern Michigan got several inches of snow over the weekend, that system barely touched Northern Michigan.

That, combined with the recent warm-up, is hurting the businesses that rely on snow.

Small snow totals don’t work for snowmobilers or the businesses who count on them.

As the holiday weekend wraps up, the only sign of snowmobilers is the picture on Sled Shed’s sign.

"Should have been one of the best weekends of the year," said Jerry Beattie, owner of Sled Shed.

It wasn't.  A big melt-down and a weekend storm that went south are to blame.  Businesses, like the Sled Shed in Gaylord, are feeling the pinch.

"You talk it up to Mother Nature, we've been on the bad luck side of the storms for the last year and a half," said Beattie.

This year, Northern Lower Michigan and the eastern part of the U-P have below-average snowfall totals.  Gaylord is 30 inches short of the normal amount. Sault Ste. Marie is 50 inches short.

"Not good, trails weren't good, so we decided to try the UP," said Terry and Sharon Wershky.

Even though they prefer the Gaylord area, the Werschky's bypassed the tip of the mitt and took their sleds to Marquette in search of snow.

In the month of February, Gaylord has seen 3.8 inches less than normal.  Petoskey, 8 inches less, The Soo, 7.2.  In Cheboygan County, you can see the brown grass.

"This year has been kind of a bust, it would have been better to stay in Maui," said Topinabee resident Ken Hoehn.

"We’ve had two in a row, hope that's not going to last, wait and see what happens next year," said Jeff Conps, owner of Topinabee Market.

And all year, both Topinabee snowmobilers and businesses say it has been bad.

"You can't ride, I've only rode my sled once, and basically getting rid of all the sleds, because I'll sell both of them if there's no snow," said Josh Vieau, Topinabee resident.

So bad, some say a snowmobile isn't worth having until snow proves it can fall again.

Still, people hold on to hope the snow will fall and there will be a strong end to the snowmobile season.