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Where's Winter? Warm Temperatures Hurting Some Businesses

BOSTON (CBS) - For Jack Gurnon, there's no business like snow business. He owns Charles Street Supply on Beacon Hill, which is usually a go-to spot for winter necessities, but this winter has been brutal on his bottom line. "What winter? we haven't had winter," he said.

Gurnon says he usually depends on big storms to make up for slow winter sales. "January, February and March are really the hard months and usually you can bank on a good New England winter," Gurnon said. "We're off a good 10% from the last few years."

warm winters
(WBZ-TV)

As February comes to a close, this winter is shaping up to be the third warmest on record with an average temperature of 37.3 degrees. A recent satellite image shows most of Massachusetts with no snow on the ground.

Satellite image
Satellite image of New England February 2020 (WBZ-TV)

About the only place you can find snow near the city is at Blue Hills Ski Area, but most, if not all of the snow is man-made.

William Mercer of Needham says there aren't many options if you are hoping to stay close to town. "There's no place around here, it's at least an hour, or hour and a half for halfway decent snow," Mercer said.

Mercer hoped this quiet winter would pick up around this time, but no luck. "Towards the end of the season you usually get a fair bit of snow, but this has been terrible."

For Jack Gurnon, it's more than a spoiled weekend, it's a troubling trend. "It's nothing like the last 4-5 years," he said.

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