Organizers of the annual Somerset SnowFest, which promotes itself as “a celebration of all things winter,” said Sunday they are modifying some events due to poor conditions fueled by record temperatures and unseasonable storms.

Warm weather and a lack of snow have prompted crews to ship in snow for some events and convert a horse-drawn sleigh ride into a horse-drawn wagon pull, event organizers said.

The rest of the week’s events, including the flagship Skijor Skowhegan planned for this Saturday, will continue, according to SnowFest organizer and Main Street Skowhegan CEO Kristina Cannon.

Temperatures are expected to remain seasonably cold in the coming week, with daily highs near freezing, according to the National Weather Service.

“We take it year by year,” Cannon said. “Winter weather is unpredictable. We just kind of play it by ear.”

Due to poor and deteriorating conditions, crews had to bring in snow to Lake George Regional Park just hours before events began Saturday, SnowFest organizer and Lake George Regional Park Director Darryll White said Sunday.

“Our sled track was brown dirt and asphalt,” he said. “We had some volunteers come in with a big tractor, and we probably put 50 loads of snow and built a beautiful track so the event went well.”

While Lake George’s sledding track was ready by the time competition began, White said organizers had to cancel the SnowFest biathlon and triathlon due to poor snow on the park’s trails.

“The conditions were so bad on the trails we couldn’t even get a groomer up there, and a lot of rocks were poking through — logs, too,” he said. “We had to cancel it for safety reasons. It was wet snow and it had been warm, and then, all of a sudden, we were looking at temps dropping well below freezing, and it turned everything to ice, which isn’t safe.”

While this winter is on track to be Maine’s warmest on record, National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Baron said Sunday that temperatures in Skowhegan and throughout central Maine are expected to remain near freezing or colder for the rest of the week.

“For the bulk of the week, it’s gonna be pretty clear and dry — highs in the upper 20s. And in the back half of the week, it’s looking like upper 30s,” Baron said. “It’s definitely warmer. With 12 days to go (in February) and some temperatures trending above normal, it’s not out of the question that we might see our warmest winter yet.”

Cannon said SnowFest organizers have begun preparing for warmer, less-predictable weather as Maine winters continue to get warmer. The horse-drawn sleigh that carries hundreds of people around Skowhegan’s Coburn Park, for example, had to be converted into a wagon due to a lack of snow.

“The sleigh can’t go on pavement, and there are some places where pavement is showing,” Cannon said. “Now that we’ve done it with the wagon, we know that we may need to do it again in the future, and that’s no big deal.”

Organizers said they believe it important to continue SnowFest as an annual event because it provides a significant boost for many local businesses. Cannon said the event drives tourism, travel and business during a slower time of year.

“We’ve actually heard from our business owners that Skijor Saturday is their best day of the season,” Cannon said. “We are very dedicated to getting people outside and active in our community, and SnowFest is one example.”

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