Sunday May 9th, 2010
Greetings and welcome!
It was an interesting night Friday night. The snow started up pretty good after dark. It eventually added up to 2-3 inches of sloppy snow. It did not stick to roads very well east of here, the main challenge driving was seeing past the fast falling flakes at 60mph. Some snow did accumulate on roads from about Parkway and points west but it was not long lived. Mostly it was slushy or wet on roads.
The snow was wet and heavy, and it did bow down a lot of trees. On my way back from Athelstane Friday night at midnight the trees seemed a lot more burdened west of about the Silver Cliff/Athelstane line. Mostly it was the small birch, popple and cherry trees that got bent over. I did see some pine branches, but no big trees down. For the most part it shook off or melted before it took down too many trees, at least around here.
Eventually a tree or branch did take down a power line and power went out here at about 1:30am and was restored about 7 hours later.
Saturday cleared up quickly and became a nice but chilly day. It was in the upper 40s and there was a little edge to the wind. If you were out in the sun it wasn’t too bad. As expected most of the snow was long gone by early afternoon.
The Friday storm brought a lot of rain. The USGS gauge by Kosir’s said that it measured 0.85″, and usually my bucket about doubles that gauge. There were some pretty good puddles. I would call it an inch to an inch and a half of rain. That is a fine start.
We were talking yesterday about how this will set off the green explosion. The plants and trees just waiting for a little moisture will get that and some sunny days this week, and it will likely set them off into rapid growth. I expect the landscape to look very different in a week. It will likely also bring the first grass cutting of the year.
Next week holds the possibility of two more rain producing storms. Monday night/Tuesday and Thursday night/Friday show storms bringing a chance of measurable precip. That has me excited about the possibilities for the Peshtigo River rafting next weekend. The snow & rain Friday night lifted the Pesh about 3″, and will add to the future rain if it comes.
We are expecting a fun weekend next weekend at Kosir’s. The Summer rafting prices kick in, and rafting prices go down almost in half. Between that and nicer weather, the new spring greening and all of the other stuff going on, it is a popular weekend. It will be good to see a lot of people around, the economy is really hitting hard up here. It would be great if the rain comes to lift the river and cut fire danger at the same time a lot of people come to visit.
At the moment the weekend weather looks good, with high pressure behind the Friday storm expected to bring cool and clear weather. Look for temps around 60 and lows around 40.
We did get cold Saturday night when the temps went down to the high twenties. It is expected to do that again tonight.
Well, it is a sunny day outside with minimal wind and 50 degrees promising to get close to 60. Time for me to head outside and see what project I tackle today.
Have a good Sunday, happy Mother’s Day, and thank you for visiting!
RJB
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