We are happy to report that the course is coming along nicely. Coverage is excellent, the base is quite firm, and the lake and pond crossings are starting to firm up a bit too (especially Deer Lake). We even received 1-2 inches of new snow on top of the work done prior. It’s possible we may see 1 or 2 more inches through Friday and Friday night, although reports suggest the wind will pick up so Friday’s new snow will likely be wind blown.

Hour by hour weather forecasts from the National Weather Service are available for both Ishpeming and Marquette. See below based on area:

Ishpeming: https://go.usa.gov/xtBrj

Marquette: https://go.usa.gov/xtBrR

The short version is temperatures will begin to drop Friday night as a clipper system moves in to the area bringing more seasonable cold temperatures to the area for Saturday. It will be a bit windy with the potential for strong gusts on Friday night…by Saturday morning winds will slow in Ishpeming, but remain more steady in Marquette near Lake Superior. Some snow will move in potentially Friday night, but nothing significant is expected – winds will be out of the northwest. The temperature at the start will be about 8F with a wind chill of -4F. As the day moves on temperatures will rise to around 15F with a wind chill of 3F. This isn’t abnormal for our area in January, but, it will feel a bit colder due to the relative humidity (approx. 70%) and the fact that we’ve had such a mild winter so far and these will be the coldest temperatures we’ve seen so far this winter.

Thank you to the National Weather Service Marquette office for their specialized support of our event!