Traverse City -- Area roads that usually are buried under ice and snow throughout the winter remain reasonably dry and free of fresh powder -- for now.
And cash-strapped local road commissions are OK with that.
"Every day that it doesn't snow helps," said Mary Gillis, manager of the Grand Traverse County road commission. "I hope it continues."
Grand Traverse County stockpiles sand and salt, used for traction and to melt snow and ice, in a barn off LaFranier Road in Traverse City. The barn tends to empty as winter drags on, but Gillis said "it's pretty full," thanks to a relatively mild winter.
Snowfall totals are down this year, and that could result in savings for road commissions, in part because the price of salt is up by more than 20 percent.
"If it continues where it's at, we're going to have a good inventory heading into next winter," Gillis said.
Weather experts don't expect any significant snow in the near future for northwest Michigan.
Mother Nature dumped about 22 inches of snow across Traverse City since Jan. 1 -- nine inches below last year's mark at this time.
"We're way below average now," said Kevin Sullivan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "Outside of a couple snowy periods, we haven't had that much. (The) storm track is way off to our south. We're missing a lot of action up here."
A weather system could sweep across the region on Tuesday or Wednesday, but Sullivan said it's too early to predict snow accumulation.
Antrim County road crews have used about half the amount of salt they scattered on local roads at this time last winter.
The road commission orders as much salt as it can at the start of the season, then relies on a backup order if it runs short, said road commission Manager Burt Thompson.
"It looks like we'll only take the minimum amount this year," he said.
Without fresh snow, road commissions also have cut back on overtime costs.
Benzie County's road commission saved about $22,000 this season from cuts it made to its weekend crew, said commission Manager Bob Weaver.
The amount of salt scattered on Benzie County roadways also is down about 2,900 tons compared to last winter.
Road commission crews in Grand Traverse County were out last week in search of broken tree branches, downed power lines and pot holes -- not ordinary duties in early February, Gillis said.
But not everybody's putting their snow boots away just yet.
"Even though it's been nice so far, we've still got plenty of winter left," Thompson said.
