Visit Keweenaw photo The famous roadside snow gauge on US-41 near Mohawk that visually marks these historic totals. The life-sized snow gauge shows the Keweenaw's record snowfall that was set during the winter of 1978-79, when the area received 390.4 inches of snow between November and April.

HOUGHTON – Visit Keweenaw is looking ahead to a big snow winter and inviting the public to guess how much more the Keweenaw will receive before the 2025-2026 season ends.

The Guess the Snow Total contest challenges participants to predict the final official snowfall total for Keweenaw County. The closest guess without going over will win exclusive Visit Keweenaw swag.

Visit Keweenaw Managing Director Jesse Wiederhold said the Guess the Snow Total contest started three years ago. “It’s a fun guess, I think everybody thinks we have little snow authority up here,” said Wiederhold. “We live it, we breathe it, we experience it, so it’s really fun to try to quantify it and take a good guess early in the season.”

Last year’s winter total was 315.25, the fourth snowiest winter on record, according to the Keweenaw County Road Commission. This year’s total to date is 119.25, less than 200 inches behind last year, and it is only the first week of January.

“Seeing what we had last year was really promising,” said Wiederhold. “In fact, we’re 20-30 inches ahead and have an additional foot on the ground right now is looking pretty good for all the trails, ski resorts and lodging businesses.”

Wiederhold said Keweenaw residents have a pretty good idea of how winter behaves.

“A lot of Februaries, it snows almost every, single day, so we want to reward those with a good snow thermometer and see who can guess the winning number.”

Rules and contest registration are available at visitkeweenaw.com