During the Winter in Indiana, the economy is down. Most construction is on hold, there is no farming, and most recreational activities are non-exist. The only exception I know of would be the two ski resorts which of course depend on the cold weather to have snow. Indiana is not like Colorado where it seems like every second or third car has a ski rack on the roof. Most Hoosiers don't ski. Perfect North is located near Cincinnati where it is much more convenient for those residents to cross the border than to drive up to the big Ohio ski resort near Columbus. Perhaps if the second ski resort were near Indianapolis, it would do better, but it is located much farther south at Paoli (because good hills are pretty scarce in Indiana). However, it's actually more convenient to take I-74 and drive to Perfect North from Indianapolis than to go down highway 37 to Paoli. They probably get some traffic from Louisville and Bloomington but it is only convenient from the town of Bedford. We are at the tail end of their season. They don't usually go more than a week into March before temperatures above freezing at night keep them from making snow. This year, they'll pick up an extra week or two.
So, why is a secondary business like a ski resort important? It isn't really. However, the end of the ski season signals the beginning of the major business season. This area has a lot of shipping all across the Great Lakes. There is traffic past Chicago down the Illinois river to St. Louis and along the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. If you check a map, you can see some movement around St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati. There's lots of traffic off the Atlantic coast down around Florida into the gulf and up the Mississippi. But, on the Great Lakes, almost nothing is moving. Lake Erie is shallow so it gets covered with ice every year. Superior, in contrast, usually only has 30% ice coverage. But, not this year. Lake Superior reached 95% ice coverage. Michigan hit 80%, Huron 95%, Erie 96%, and Ontario 32%. They reached 87% total coverage of the Great Lakes which is the most they've had since 1979.
It's already been announced that the St. Lawrence Seaway won't open until March 28. That's about a week later than typical. Early arctic air swooped down and ended the shipping season early last year so there is pent-up demand. The ships would love to be moving right now. But, they can't. The mighty, 3,500 ton Coast Guard ice breaker, Mackinaw (WLBB-30), is in port. BTW, don't get this confused with the retired ice breaker that is now at the maritime museum (WAGB-83) at Mackinaw City. The working ice breaker is anchored at Cheboygan. The 2,000 ton Hollyhock and the 2,200 ton Canadian ship, Griffon, along with the 600 ton Neah Bay are currently hanging around Lake St. Clair. Supposedly, Biscayne Bay is in port at St. Ignace but I haven't seen a radio track from it. You can track these at marinetraffic.com
You can see a video from channel 2 out of Milwaukee where the Mackinaw broke the freighter, Algosteel, out the ice in the Mackinac Straits a couple weeks ago. wisn news.
They've been talking about having to form convoys on Lake Superior and follow an ice breaker. They might have to form convoys to get through the Mackinac Straits and also to get through Lake Erie. So, the ice is delaying shipping on the Great Lakes this year and presumably is dragging the economy some. It should be interesting to see when they can finally get moving. Does anyone else here have some information about this?
So, why is a secondary business like a ski resort important? It isn't really. However, the end of the ski season signals the beginning of the major business season. This area has a lot of shipping all across the Great Lakes. There is traffic past Chicago down the Illinois river to St. Louis and along the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. If you check a map, you can see some movement around St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati. There's lots of traffic off the Atlantic coast down around Florida into the gulf and up the Mississippi. But, on the Great Lakes, almost nothing is moving. Lake Erie is shallow so it gets covered with ice every year. Superior, in contrast, usually only has 30% ice coverage. But, not this year. Lake Superior reached 95% ice coverage. Michigan hit 80%, Huron 95%, Erie 96%, and Ontario 32%. They reached 87% total coverage of the Great Lakes which is the most they've had since 1979.
It's already been announced that the St. Lawrence Seaway won't open until March 28. That's about a week later than typical. Early arctic air swooped down and ended the shipping season early last year so there is pent-up demand. The ships would love to be moving right now. But, they can't. The mighty, 3,500 ton Coast Guard ice breaker, Mackinaw (WLBB-30), is in port. BTW, don't get this confused with the retired ice breaker that is now at the maritime museum (WAGB-83) at Mackinaw City. The working ice breaker is anchored at Cheboygan. The 2,000 ton Hollyhock and the 2,200 ton Canadian ship, Griffon, along with the 600 ton Neah Bay are currently hanging around Lake St. Clair. Supposedly, Biscayne Bay is in port at St. Ignace but I haven't seen a radio track from it. You can track these at marinetraffic.com
You can see a video from channel 2 out of Milwaukee where the Mackinaw broke the freighter, Algosteel, out the ice in the Mackinac Straits a couple weeks ago. wisn news.
They've been talking about having to form convoys on Lake Superior and follow an ice breaker. They might have to form convoys to get through the Mackinac Straits and also to get through Lake Erie. So, the ice is delaying shipping on the Great Lakes this year and presumably is dragging the economy some. It should be interesting to see when they can finally get moving. Does anyone else here have some information about this?
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