Snow A No-Show For Much Of State's Lower Peninsula

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Grand Rapids is going to extremes - from its snowiest November to what could be the least snowy December.

Only three-tenths of an inch of snow has fallen this month in the western Michigan city, The Grand Rapids Press reported. That starkly contrasts with November, which logged 31 inches.

Little or at least less snow has been common this month across the Lower Peninsula. The Detroit Free Press reported that trace amounts have fallen in the area, and it's in the running to be the least snowy Detroit December in 125 years.

"In 1889, there was actually zero for the month," said National Weather Service forecaster Bryan Tilley. "So we're actually closer to that than we are to the four-tenths (of an inch) in 1894."

Detroit gets an average of 9.7 inches of snow in December, and it had 12.3 inches by Dec. 26 one year ago.

Weather service data also showed about an inch had fallen in Muskegon and Lansing.

The lack of snow was hitting some Michigan businesses that depend on it for their livelihood.

"Last year, everybody could justify spending the money on hard goods, and this year we're kind of in a lull," Hannah Kaley, a saleswoman at Don Orr Ski n' Beach Haus told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

While there may not be snow on the ground, ski resorts have enough of it to operate and create a demand for winter recreation equipment, Kaley said.

"Just because there isn't snow in your backyard doesn't mean there isn't snow on the hill," she said.

© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.