April 2012

Monday April 30th, 2012

Greetings and welcome!

We had a rainy start to what looks like a rainy week. Monday brought rain early that was enough to get everything wet, but not enough to make puddles or run off. The local mechanical rain gauges said 0.06″-0.08″, but that seems a little low.

Our Tuesday looks nice with highs in the mid-70s, but with some strong winds kicking up in the afternoon.

From Tuesday night through Saturday afternoon there is rain in the forecast daily. The HPC forecast puts us in the 1.0-1.25″ range for the next five days.

I am not expecting constant rain for the next 5 days, there will be breaks in the action. It looks like 3 different storms that could affect our weather, and there will be heavier rain at times and breaks between them.

Also very notable, our daytime high temperatures will move from the 40s and 50s up into the 70s as the storms draw up warmer air. That will be a welcome change from the 44 degree high of last Thursday and the 23 degree low temp that we had last Saturday night.

Right now the forecast for Saturday is for upper 60s with some rain in the morning clearing out early afternoon. That is a little specific for 5 days out, but that is what the GFS is showing.  Follow that up with a pretty clear 60 degree day for Sunday.

The fishing forecast looks pretty good. I am a believer in solunar tables, and opening day Saturday happens to be the peak of peaks, the full moon. I am also of the opinion that rain makes fish more active feeders as it washes food into the water. It will also be a little unsettled in the weather department, bringing in an overcast Saturday morning. I would guess that the water temperature is a little ahead of normal too. It certainly sounds promising.

Trout fishermen will find rivers that are rising. They are low right now with pretty normal summer flows, but we are expecting an inch plus of rain this week. The increased flow and food that it washes in should again be a good thing to get the fish biting.

The great outdoors is greening up slowly, but this week’s rain will probably change that. It is about time for the first grass cutting. The choke cherries are still blooming. The red maples in the yard are heavy with little helicopter bunches. I haven’t seen any ferns yet. Gators and ticks have been minimal. The frogs in the pond have been noisy on warmer days, and will probably be loud with the warm wet week ahead.

I don’t have any events on the calendar for this weekend.

People that haven’t been in the area for a while might be surprised that the big rock at the west end of Hwy X at Parkway Rd got a lot smaller. Early this spring they blasted the big rock and moved it back about 50 feet. Now the road from Ranch Rd down to the boat landing just south of X has been pulverized and is in gravel. They are pretty far along in the construction, so hopefully they will pave it soon.

That is news for today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday April 26th, 2012

Greetings and welcome!

It is a chilly day outside today. Looking out of the window it looks nice and sunny, and very inviting. A step through the door finds a 44 degree day with the wind roaring in the trees and sounding like a rushing river. The wind is at 15 and gusting to just over 30.

The rain yesterday didn’t add up to much. The USGS gauge by Kosir’s measured about 1/10th of an inch, and the puddles in the driveway remain dry. It did pound on the roof a few times for a little while, but it wasn’t as impressive on the ground as it was on radar.

The storm did bring in some colder weather. As I mentioned, today’s high so far is 45 degrees. We are expecting low to mid-50s Friday and Saturday, and getting closer to 60 for Sunday.

The real story here is the overnight low temperatures. Between the clear skies and the cold air mass, we are looking at low 20s for tonight, and upper 20s for Friday and Saturday night. Be ready for cold nights if you are camping over the weekend.

There is a possibility of rain over the weekend, but so far the models have been keeping it south of 64 and and mostly south of abut Green Bay. That isn’t a lot of margin, but so far our forecast here remains dry.

Between the low humidity and high winds fire danger is elevated again today. The dry air and wind will absorb any free moisture, and low humidity and low moisture levels over the weekend will again bring elevated fire danger. We will eventually get good conditions for burning those Spring cleanup brush piles, but the past week has been a lot less than ideal, and the weekend isn’t looking good.

I feel bad for the frogs in the pond. They were noisy in March when it got so warm, and when the cold snap came they went silent. Yesterday I heard them again for the first time since then, and here we are with another cold snap. The pond is quiet again today.

We are nine days from the opening of fishing. The lakes are ready and ice free. The article in the paper had a DNR fish biologist saying that this year was the best spawning season that he had seen in 30 years. The ice went out early and the spawning has been going on for the past month plus. Supposedly that will leave some hungry fish for the opening of the season.

I am a fan of the solunar tables, and today I like what they say. It looks like we are in for a full moon on the Saturday of opening day, meaning that it is a peak time all weekend.

I am not aware of any events for this weekend.

That is the news for today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday April 24, 2012

Greetings and welcome!

The weekend was a very fun one. The weather stayed nice other  than the clear 25 degree nights. The river was running good and a lot of people had a lot of fun rafting. We also had the DPoD group visiting Kosirs, and they are legendary for a fun time for a reason. Thanks for the fun and it was great to meet everyone.

Here are a couple of pictures from the river..

The leaves on the hardwood trees continue to progress toward full foliage. They are starting to move along pretty good now, but have some progress to make before they are really full.

The high spots in the grass are ready for the lawn mower. I spotted my first dandelion and first butterfly over the weekend, but there wasn’t much for critter sightings other than a few deer.

In my spare time I have been working on cleaning up the yard and getting the lawn mower ready to go. With all of the snow and rain last week I had hoped to have a clean up fire for the scraps in the wood yard and some tree branches, but it has been too windy daily. The fire danger remains high today between the wind and low humidity.

It looks like we will start the week off with highs in the upper 50s and lows around 30. Wednesday and Wednesday night we are expecting some rain, followed by a little cooler air and clear weather right through the weekend. The late week/weekend temps look like highs around 50 and lows in the upper 20s and low 30s.

Whitewater rafting this weekend should be fun. The river is at about 335CFS right now, and Wednesday’s rain holds the promise of bumping that up a little. Rumor has it that there are pretty many people coming to raft at Kosir’s this weekend, and it should be a fun time.

That is about a wrap for today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday April 20th, 2012

Greetings and welcome!

The rumors are true, we had some snow last night. I saw it start as a mix a little before sunset. By the time that I got home at 11:30 or so we had 2″ on cold surfaces and it was still snowing.The roads weren’t holding any snow, but the ditches and trees along the road were flocked pretty well.

The radar showed that is snowed for a few more hours, and this morning several neighbors were reporting 4″ around here and up in the Old J area. It didn’t last long between the April sun and the mid-40s this morning. A look out of the window at 1pm found only patchy snow in spots that didn’t see morning sun. Open areas are green again.

Both the early week storm and last night’s snow storm brought measurable rainfall. Yesterday’s storm in particular made gravel roads soft and filled big puddles. At that point we will see reduced fire danger, two thumbs up for rafting, and I am going to predict some rapid green growth too.

The early week rain bumped river levels for rafting up a little, and the Thursday rain and snow is doing it again. Right now the Peshtigo is at about +3, but I am predicting the rise to continue until we see 5. It should be a fun river this weekend with decent levels and a pushiness that comes with rising water.

Kosir’s is also starting to run trips on the Menominee River this weekend. That river is running at about 2,000 CFS, a pretty fun level.

I am expecting a lot of new green growth over the next week. The rain will set off all of the plants and trees that are just emerging with leaves. That firewood that I want to pick up before the underbrush fills in, I should probably get on that, and maybe cast an eye toward fixing the lawn mower up for another season. The first cutting isn’t far off, especially with the wet week.

The weekend weather looks pretty decent. Saturday looks like a nice day with a high temperature in the low 50s. Sunday looks a little warmer, but we will see some clouds and a 30% chance of rain.

The only event that I have listed for this weekend is the Athelstane Bars’ indoor mini-golf for Saturday..

There are 6 bars involved in making their own holes for this event. You need 4 person teams and can play for any of the 6 bars listed. Talk to your bartenders at whichever bar you want to play for. Come join for some interesting indoor mini golf. Firelane Bar,Corner Bar, Nimrod Inn, Big O’s, Lakeside, Eagle Creek Pub.

That is news for today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB