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Low Snow Hurting Businesses, Causing Brush Fire Concerns

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Something we typically don't talk about this early in February is already proving just how mild this winter has been.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) already put out a warning about burning restrictions. Annual restrictions kick in once the snow melts, but a lack of snow means it's already easier for brush fires to spread. On top of that, the low snow totals are causing some businesses to go cold.

Crunching below your feet and conversation -- that's about you'll hear along the Northwest Trails in Hennepin County.

The sound of snowmobiles? That's not anywhere to be found along the trail.

"No snow means no snowmobiling," said Colin Brown, administrator for the trails. "This is about as bad as it gets. You cannot ride right now in these conditions because you can see grass coming up through our trail everywhere."

Brown showed WCCO a portion of the trail near the headquarters for Polaris in Medina. Parts had no snow at all, others up to an inch as most. That's been the case for much of central and southern Minnesota.

That's the case for much of central and southern Minnesota.

The DNR released keeps a map showing the ideal conditions for snowmobiling across the state.

The northern portion of Minnesota is seeing anywhere from a foot to 2 feet of snow, which is ideal for snowmobiling, but much of central and southern Minnesota has 2 inches or less. Brown said that can reveal dangerous obstacles for riders.

"Culverts, electrical boxes, fire hydrants, rocks stumps," he said. "Things that are not covered like they normally are when you have good snow years."

Brown said "good snow years" haven't been around much lately. "The last two years have been really tough. "It's very rare to get three years in a row where you have little to no snow to ride on," he said. Brown added that a three-year stretch of low snow has only happened once or twice in the Northwest Trails' more than 30 year history.

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