Sault Ste. Marie Area Trail Report – 02/19
SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 02/19 2/19/25 “Last night I ran the Pisten Bully and Dubie drag on trail 480 from Raco to our Spile Dam Rd turnaround. Then trail 8 on the Powerline, and from Raco all the way to the Sault and back. The night started with blowing and drifting lake effect snow, with poor visibility. After a while it calmed down, but left quite a bit of fresh snow, and lots of drifting across the trails. On my return trip from the Sault back to Raco, the only tracks on the trail were left by deer, rabbits, and other wildlife. So the trails had many hours to set up for morning riders.” Quiet here during the week, and things are pretty excellent! We now have 1 of the 2 groomers that were down fixed, too! Thank you to all of our volunteers for your hard work, and for stepping up to cover while they were down! Teamwork makes the dream work! ❄️❄️❄️ <> SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 02/19 Brimley Bill is heading back to Raco from the Soo. A little aurora borealis shining behind the clouds tonight. 💚❄ <> SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 02/18 2/18/25 It’s Tuesday, so time for another trail report from Steve. Here we go! “Yesterday was an emotional roller coaster leading up to our Monday night grooming run. With both groomers in the Soo barn broke down and waiting on repairs, Dennis and I spent the day tossing around ideas of what we were going to do with our first free Monday night in a long time. Things changed around 3 pm when our groomer boss Mike called with some good news and bad news. The good news was, we were going to be able to still groom. The bad news was, the available groomer was sitting down in Kinross. Dennis and I made a plan that worked for both of us to do our normal Soo to Kinross run on trail 49 in reverse. I drove to Kinross and warmed up the groomer before heading north. Our groomer sits outside there and it really made me appreciate the barn in the Soo where everything is warm and thawed out before starting our runs. I had an uneventful trip into town. I met lots of sleds and received thumbs up from most of them. I reached out to Groomer Lane just south of the Soo. He had made the last trip into town from Kinross and groomed all the way to Trail 8. I decided at that point to groom the east side of town and went to the casino and also to the high school. Most of our city trails have now been groomed in the last few days, utilizing our Kinross groomer. Overall, trails are in great condition. The top layer of snow on the trail is soft. Trails are pretty flat and should be enjoyable to ride. There is still utility work going on inside the city limits around the trail to the casino. It is signed well and one section of trail is blocked off. I was able to sneak the groomer around the area and keep a safe path through. Please use caution in this area as they are working in many spots along the way. Thank you to all of our volunteers, especially to those that have put in extra time and rearranged their schedules to help us out while we are down 2 machines. I rode yesterday and you’d never know it. They are all doing a fantastic job! Stay warm if you’re out the next few days. It’s brutally cold, and trails are very hard packed, especially in the morning so scratchers are recommended if you have them. No significant snow in the next few days, but there’s tons around. We could use a break from shoveling and plowing LOL. <> <> Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association Facebook Page <> WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Another system brings a quick round of light to moderate snowfall late tonight into early Saturday. A widespread 1-3 inches of snow is expected, possibly locally higher up to 3-4in in the eastern UP. A change over to lake effect snow is expected in the NW wind snow belts Saturday afternoon, lingering into Sunday. Winds turn gusty for Saturday, with gusts as high as 40-45mph possible over the Keweenaw, where a Wind Advisory is in effect Saturday afternoon and evening. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaAnother system brings a quick round of light to moderate snowfall late tonight into early Saturday. A widespread 1-3 inches of snow is expected, possibly locally higher up to 3-4in in the eastern UP. A change over to lake effect snow is expected in the NW wind snow belts Saturday afternoon, lingering into Sunday. Winds turn gusty for Saturday, with gusts as high as 40-45mph possible over the Keweenaw, where a Wind Advisory is in effect Saturday afternoon and evening. WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Lake effect snow ends over the north-northwest wind snow belts today. A couple more fluffy inches and some blowing snow is still expected over the north central and eastern U.P. this morning. A quick hitting system looks to bring 1 to 4 fluffy inches of snowfall tonight through Saturday morning. West to northwest winds as high as 45 mph are expected to make a return over the Keweenaw on Saturday. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsareaLake effect snow ends over the north-northwest wind snow belts today. A couple more fluffy inches and some blowing snow is still expected over the north central and eastern U.P. this morning. A quick hitting system looks to bring 1 to 4 fluffy inches of snowfall tonight through Saturday morning. West to northwest winds as high as 45 mph are expected to make a return over the Keweenaw on Saturday. SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> 12/19/25 SAULT STE. MARIE AREA UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association >> Video is from 12/16/25 WEATHER UPDATE via Michigan Storm Chasers >> Lake effect totals through Friday afternoon, December 19th, 2025 have been updated slightly to account for latest shifts in atmospheric conditions. WEATHER UPDATE via US National Weather Service Marquette Michigan >> Active weather is expected for the remainder of the work week. Winds pick up tonight, gusting to 25-45mph (highest in the western and north-central UP), falling back into Thursday morning. Light rain and patchy mixed precipitation return Thursday morning, transitioning over to widespread snow late Thursday into Thursday night before tapering off to light lake effect snow Friday. The heaviest snow accumulations will be across the far western UP. #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsarea <> Latest Trail Reports – Quick Links <>
Sorry for the delay guys! Busy work day. Here’s a report from Brimley Bill, and also some pics from his run. Bryan also sent us some from his run on the city trails last night. Please use caution on 449 in the city as the utility company is in there doing some work again. Stay on the groomed trail and you’ll be just fine.
Bill’s report-
<>
Good morning everyone!
I spent some time reflecting on the five-year sentence I served grooming out of our Raco location and decided driving to Kinross from the Soo wasn’t all that bad. Time wise, it is about half as long as driving to Raco after work.
Hope to continue to see sleds enjoying our trail system.
Steve Lawson”Postings From Regional Pages On Facebook
The switch has flipped! We went from 42 and rain last night to 18 and snow flurries currently. Wild!
Word is that the roads are absolutely horrible, and area schools have been cancelled.
No doubt, trails will be solid ice until the new snow starts to pile up. As soon as I have any idea what the trails look like, I’ll be sure to share, but wanted to at least share a bit of good news. #soo #snowphotos
Sorry I’m late on this put thought it was still worth sharing to show how things looked before this little warm up.
Here’s Pete’s report to go along with it-
“I took took New Dave out for his final training run down trail 8 to Brimley. We have been struggling with some engine computer wiring issues causing stalls. Some repair attempts were made, and this was an unscheduled test run as well. Bryan and his assistant Logan followed along to assist in case of another breakdown. Additionally, we wanted to take down the large leaning tree that’s been impeding the trail. Everything went well and the groomer made the trip with no issues. Dave finished up his training and will be headed out on his own soon. The tree came down without any hiccups. Even though it was warm out, the trail laid out smooth and flat. It was a great success and we are glad to have accomplished so much in one evening.”
Thanks all! #soo #snowphotos
Discussion
As temperatures fall early Friday, moisture pools back in, mixed with colder air over the warmer lakes, turning on the lake effect machine for both of the Great Lakes that influence our normal lake effect zones. A respectable 1-3" to 2-5" is possible in the fairly typical areas shown on the map. The narrow lane of higher elevation across the Keweenaw Peninsula and Porcupine Mountains are most-likely to experience totals exceeding 6". You may have noticed our one main change was the expansion of T-1" over to the east side of the state just as a general precaution to any snow squalls that make it across the state. Not everyone will get a rogue snow squall, but it is in the odds for nearly everyone. A snow squall is a thin, but intense band of quick snow that can produce at least half an inch of snow in minutes time, while knocking visibility down from 10 miles, to a quarter mile in moments time. Additionally, a quick coating of snow may hide any ice that was able to form from the freeze later tonight. Lake effect snow and snow squalls are poised to start later this evening around 8 pm EST (earlier for the western UP), and run primarily through 1 pm EST Friday. A couple lake effect bands may last through 6 pm across northern Michigan near Gaylord, and the central UP near Munising.
Each area is never guaranteed the totals shown on the screen. This is why we call it a prediction. The totals that are shown however do have the greatest odds of occurring. Yes, we are still trying to find that crystal ball, but no luck to this point. Follow us here at Michigan Storm Chasers for forecast updates, and a little humor on the side, throughout the next few days, and as always, 365 days a year! #miweather #keweenaw #westernup #marquette #munising #seney #newberry #soo #straitsarea #gaylord #cadillac #benzie #traversecity #petoskeyLake effect totals through Friday afternoon, December 19th, 2025 have been updated slightly to account for latest shifts in atmospheric conditions.
Discussion
As temperatures fall early Friday, moisture pools back in, mixed with colder air over the warmer lakes, turning on the lake effect machine for both of the Great Lakes that influence our normal lake effect zones. A respectable 1-3" to 2-5" is possible in the fairly typical areas shown on the map. The narrow lane of higher elevation across the Keweenaw Peninsula and Porcupine Mountains are most-likely to experience totals exceeding 6". You may have noticed our one main change was the expansion of T-1" over to the east side of the state just as a general precaution to any snow squalls that make it across the state. Not everyone will get a rogue snow squall, but it is in the odds for nearly everyone. A snow squall is a thin, but intense band of quick snow that can produce at least half an inch of snow in minutes time, while knocking visibility down from 10 miles, to a quarter mile in moments time. Additionally, a quick coating of snow may hide any ice that was able to form from the freeze later tonight. Lake effect snow and snow squalls are poised to start later this evening around 8 pm EST (earlier for the western UP), and run primarily through 1 pm EST Friday. A couple lake effect bands may last through 6 pm across northern Michigan near Gaylord, and the central UP near Munising.
Each area is never guaranteed the totals shown on the screen. This is why we call it a prediction. The totals that are shown however do have the greatest odds of occurring. Yes, we are still trying to find that crystal ball, but no luck to this point. Follow us here at Michigan Storm Chasers for forecast updates, and a little humor on the side, throughout the next few days, and as always, 365 days a year!
-- Trusted Partner of the Day --
Apex Restoration & Mitigation | Call 810-202-3586 today for all restoration needs across Genesee county and the thumb!