"Looks a lot like March:" Lack of snow impacts organizations that rely on it, like Urban Ecology Center

“Looks a lot like March:” Lack of snow impacts organizations that rely on it, like Urban Ecology Center

MILWAUKEE -- Winter weather is Wisconsin's bread and butter, but with temperatures in the 40s, snow has been hard to come by of late! The lack of snow is impacting people and organizations who typically thrive in the winter months.

Usually in January, the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee is wading through rental requests for snow shoes and cross country skis.

But this January...

"It looks a lot like March, or April even," Lesley Sheridan, community program coordinator for the Urban Ecology Center said.

"It's what -- 40 degrees right now?!" Joe Fahrenkopf said.

On Monday, January 23rd, snow was hard to find -- too bad, because the Urban Ecology Center has the goods when it comes to getting out and enjoying the snow.

Lesley Sheridan

"Recreational things like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing and sledding and snowman building -- but that's all snow dependent," Sheridan said.

The lack of snow has been forcing the Urban Ecology Center and others to cancel events they typically host in winter -- like snowshoeing outings.

"I don't think we have anything out at the moment," Sheridan said.

So oddly enough, items like skis are collecting dust.

Urban Ecology Center

"I think this is all going to clear out as soon as there is snow on the ground!" Jeff McAvoy, marketing and communication for the Urban Ecology Center said.

The sledding hill at Riverside Park in Milwaukee looked like a wet pile of dirt on Monday.

Fahrenkopf said he digs the snow, but said the upside to the mild temperatures is the ease of dog training.

"We do a little bit of retrieving competition and lure courses," Fahrenkopf said.

He said no snow means less salt, which is hard on dogs' paws. But he said he's confident the snow will return sooner or later!

"It could be -10, and it goes back and forth. My grandmother always said, 'wait 10 minutes and the weather will change,'" Fahrenkopf said.

The FOX6 Weather Experts said there IS snow in the forecast this week -- but not much!

Snow is likely across areas of central and western Wisconsin Tuesday and Wednesday, with limited wintry impact for us in southeastern Wisconsin. We will transition to all rain on Wednesday before changing back to light snow Wednesday night. Accumulations (if any) will likely be under an inch in most areas, the Weather Experts said.

CLICK HERE for the very latest forecast information.