Snow and ice are a way of life here. See how a lost winter upended that.
Wisconsin’s Northwoods are normally a playground of snow and ice right now. But life here has become unrecognizable.

By Scott Dance
February 28, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. EST



Mud and melted snow outside of an auto repair shop in Eagle River, Wis., on Feb. 21. (Nicole Neri for The Washington Post)
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CABLE, Wis. — This year, it seemed like an apparition: Hundreds of skiers gliding through pine and birch forests here in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. The 50th year of the world-famous American Birkebeiner race, inspired by a 13th-century Norwegian war tale, was under way — against the odds and a bit slushier than usual.

Organizers spent days earlier spreading 1,100 truckloads of artificial snow across brown slopes — possible only with $600,000 worth of snow-making equipment installed after an ill-timed February thaw canceled the race in 2017. During what has been a lost winter for the Upper Midwest, it brought a rare taste of normalcy to a place where thriving through frigid temperatures is a point of pride and a way of life.

But otherwise, this season’s extremes are impossible to ignore across the Northwoods: Snowless ground so muddy, you’d think it was April. Lake ice too thin to support pickup trucks, if even ice fishers themselves. Empty snowmobiling trails. Bars and hotels desperate for visitors.

The harshness of a typical winter is “what makes living here great,” Marty Wiitala, a 59-year-old from Minneapolis, said after crossing the Birkie finish line. “You’ve got to figure out how to make winter fun.” ... But what if winter never comes?



Skiers participate in the American Birkebeiner on Feb. 21 in Cable, Wis. (Nicole Neri for The Washington Post)



Skiers participate in the 30K Skate/Classic Open Track event of the American Birkebeiner on Feb. 21. ( Nicole Neri for The Washington Post)

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Nicole Neri and Harry Stevens contributed to this report.

By Scott Dance
Scott Dance is a reporter for The Washington Post covering extreme weather news and the intersections between weather, climate, society and the environment. He joined The Post in 2022 after more than a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he most recently focused on climate change and the environment. Twitter https://twitter.com/ssdance