MANCELONA -- A cross-country ski race in Antrim County is cancelled due to a lack of snow.
Officials in Mancelona made the decision to cancel the White Pine Stampede Wednesday. This weekend would have been the 35th year of the race.
The competition would have started at the Mancelona High School and finished at Shanty Creek Resort. Tuesday, the race was scaled back from 40 kilometers to 20 kilometers due to the forecast, but trail conditions forced officials to cancel it all together Wednesday.
7&4 News is told 140 racers signed up for this year's event, which was a lower number than previous years.
There is also growing concern about the I-500 snowmobile race which takes place Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie. 7&4 Storm Team Meteorologist Joe Charlevoix says Sault Ste. Marie normally has about 85.4 inches of snowfall by February 1. This year however, the area has received more than two and a half feet less, with total accumulation so far at 54.3 inches.
The forecast for Sault Ste. Marie: Outside of a few flurries, NO snow forecasted through at least February 11th. Temperatures rest of this week into the weekend will be in the upper-20's/low-30's with overnight lows this weekend in the mid/upper-teens.
The North American Vasa is scheduled to take place Feb. 11 in Grand Traverse County.
Officials with the Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails are asking people to stay off the groomed portion of the Vasa Pathway until temperatures drop below freezing. Officials report the base is still thin in many spots and any damaged caused by users will be very hard and perhaps impossible to repair until new snow falls.
Normally Traverse City sees about 70-inches of snowfall by February 1. Actual snowfall so far this year is 32.9-inches. Traverse City is running 37.1" behind on snow. That's a little over three feet!
The forecast for the Traverse City area: A rare flurry is possible, but the same… no snow/rain forecasted through at least February 11th-12th if even at that time. Highs this week into the weekend remaining in the upper-30's/low to mid-40's with mid-20's for lows.
