Taking stock of the warm, wet weather and lack of snow

By Sally Quale

With several residents reporting their ____ have bloomed, it comes as no surprise that Norfolk is experiencing one of the mildest and wettest winters on record. Perhaps the best example of this atypical winter weather came on Saturday, January 6, when temperatures soared into the high 60s.

Although there are some pleasing aspects of a mild winter, the cons appear to outweigh the pros. It almost goes without saying that the four ski areas within 45 minutes of Norfolk are under mounting financial stress. The lack of snow also has had a ripple effect on other local businesses.

Robert Drunker, a director of the Salisbury Bank and Trust in Canaan, notes that restaurants and stores that depend on skiers in Great Barrington are complaining about a slump in sales. In Drucker’s own store, Bob’s Clothing and Shoes in Canaan, the glove rack is full. “Most days,” says Drucker, “people are walking around with their hands in their pockets. Nobody is buying boots. Everyone is still in running shoes.”

Local fuel companies are suffering. Jim Conway of John Bazzano & Sons says he has seen a 30 percent drop in his sales of home heating oil. “When we contracted for heating oil with our supplier early in the season,” says Conway, “we not only got locked into the high price of oil at the time, but now we don’t have storage tanks big enough for us to take delivery of it all. That means we are paying a penalty of 10 cents on every gallon of heating oil we can’t store.”

Commercial loggers, such as Star Childs, who oversees the Great Mountain Forest, have been forced to halt timber harvesting because their heavy equipment tends to bog down in the spongy turf. Great Mountain’s tractors, skidders and shredders have been idle for weeks. “It’s a freaky time,” says Childs.

The halt in logging and absence of snow has also meant a huge loss of revenue for Carl and Lois Neumann, who run Argus Inc. in Winsted, which is frequented by numerous Norfolk residents. Normally at this time of year the Neumanns are busy serviing chain saws, snowmobiles and snow blowers. But their workshop is eerily empty.

For others, however, the warm weather has been a big plus. “It has made life a whole lot easier for a number of local wildlife species,” says Paul Rego, with a title of Fur Bearing Biologist with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Many bears have yet to hibernate, he says, and some males may skip the long nap all together.

On the other hand, Norfolk resident Ed Machowski, who is a DEP fisheries biologist, worries whether warmer waters will affect the timing of the spring spawning season, reducing this year’s yield.

While David Pilbin of DSP Enterprise is understandably of two minds about the weather (“It hasn’t helped my snowplowing business, but my outside landscaping work has been good”), contractor Scott Reeve is all for it. “I’ve been able to continue my exterior work into the winter months, it’s saved me time on travel, and working conditions are much safer.”

State Police Lieutenant Scott Anderson at the Troop B North Canaan Barracks says that there have been fewer car accidents, and George’s Garage estimates that calls to tow damaged vehicles are down by at least 20 percent.

Mary Pat Lasko, Botelle School secretary, reports that one day in early January some children came to school in shorts and without jackets. The school has yet to declare a snow day, while in most years there is at least one before Thanksgiving and five or six by early January.

First Selectman Sue Dyer is unquestionably the happiest resident in town. Only $20,998 of the $109,611 allocated for snow and ice removal has been spent thus far. When asked how the town might spend the extra funds, Dyer cautioned, “Winter’s not over yet.” Agreeing with her, John Anderson, manager at Aton Forest, warned that “we have often had our biggest snowstorms and lowest temperatures in February and March.”

But as of January 29, 2007, when Norfolk Now went to press, it looked like the town’s reputation for being the ice box of Connecticut was very much open to question.

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Warm Weather Pluses

Mary Bazzano has been selling more bottled water and soda than usual at the Corner Store, horseback riders are still showing up at the Rustling Winds Stables, and Richard Dann and Robin Yuran have been surprised by an increase in library visitors, especially families on weekends with no option to ski or skate.