2013

Tuesday May 21st, 2013

Greetings and welcome!

It is a pretty morning outside this morning with the mist from last night’s rain and a lot of new green things growing.

We had a line of rain come through early this morning that showed up as yellow on the radar. It rained hard enough to hear it on the roof for a while but didn’t last long. We had a similar line of rain come through Monday early morning. According to the USGS gauge by Kosir’s each brought about 0.15″ of rain.

We are expecting a little more rain today and Wednesday, followed by clear weather and mid-60s right through the weekend. The GFS scenario for the weekend has a little light rain well to our west and southwest in MN and IA, and the closest edge of it stops at about Wausau and Madison. I don’t see any suggestion of a wet weekend. The NWS has daytime temps in the mid-60s and overnight lows in the low to mid-40s.

There is an active sunspot on the sun that has been putting off impressive solar flares and CMEs. So far it has been pointed away from the earth. About Saturday it would be pointed close enough to offer a glancing blow if it did have an eruption. It has been just about daily, so there is an outside shot at some northern lights this weekend.

The past week has brought incredible changes to the area. The underbrush in the woods has filled in tremendously, and the hardwoods are getting leaves unfolding. The ferns are popping up with their fiddleheads and will unfold soon. The trillium are coming in as well as some early violets and marsh marigolds. The plant growt in the past week has been incredible, and the rain will really set it off. It does seem like we are a little behind this spring.

The gators (mosquitoes) haven’t been bad yet but are due any day now. The wood ticks are present in the usual numbers. The bug of the weekend was the gnat. They weren’t bad Saturday but weren’t hard to find Sunday.

The first fawns were spotted this week, and several reports came in yesterday alone. I dodged a porcupine in the truck the other night, the second of the season.

Silver Cliff made the news with a bear attack last week. It went after the dog, the owner went after the bear and it turned on him. The Mrs. smacked it over the head with a shotgun as he was being attacked, and they got away. The bear got killed, the guy will be ok, but had to get stitched up.

I don’t know much beyond the news report. Someone at the bar said that it was north of Old J. Other than that all that I can offer is that it is the first that I have heard of a bear attack in my time here (since 99). I have had plenty of bear encounters and they always ran away.

One of the many jobs on the list today is to get the lawn mower into the shop and get started on the lawn. It is time to cut grass, and before the underbrush fills in, time to establish the cut area and clean up anything on the sides that I don’t want overgrown.

I have plenty of cleanup to do in the wood yard. There is some left over wood to cut, and shards to rake up so that I don’t hit them with the lawn mower. Usually there is a big campfire with the leftover and irregular wood, and I have been holding off on that because of fire danger. With the rain this week I’d expect fire danger to return to pretty normal levels.

The whitewater rafting for this weekend is looking good. The Peshtigo River is at about a +5″, a little above normal, and the rain this week will help.

The Kosir’s outpost on the Menominee River opens this weekend and they will be running trips on the big river too. That one is running above normal too, and will be a great time this weekend. This would be a good weekend to do the two rivers special, and maybe catch a few waterfalls on the way.

I really dropped the ball on the event listing yesterday. When I was in town I walked out with my groceries and meant to walk back in with a pen to write down events. I got distracted and never went back in. At that point I don’t have a lot of specifics.

The McCaslin Lioness Faire in Lakewood is Sunday. Silver Cliff and Waubeno are having memorial services and picnics. Silver Cliff’s is Monday, presumably Wabeno’s is too.

Last year’s list had a rummage sale at the Ranger City Rider’s Clubhouse in Amberg, and an Auction in Crooked Lake.

I know that there are more events and I will scour the papers and posters to find and many as I can. I expect to follow up late week with that, the latest weather, and anything that I missed.

For now, have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Wednesday May 15th, 2013

Greetings and welcome!

It has been an interesting week and weekend. Over the weekend the action on the river was hot, but the weather wasn’t. Sunday night we got down to 21 degrees, and the weekend didn’t get much above 50. As is typical in WI in spring, three days later we are looking at mid-70s.

Spring is moving right along. The trees are getting buds and leaves. The choke cherries, pussy willows, marsh marigolds, and now the first dandelions are in bloom. The grass is green in the yard, and the big fields are coming along too. You can still see into the woods, but not for long. The underbrush is growing in too. It is a time of year with many changes noticeable pretty much daily. When it rains next week I expect the growth to be incredible.

We haven’t had much rain in the past few weeks. According to the morning news, Marinette County is now under a red flag warning along with most of the UP.  A red flag warning means no outside burning at all because fire danger risk is very high.

Usually a red flag warning comes with a low humidity and warm temperature scenario, along with dry fuel and some wind to spread the fire quickly.  At that point you will want to wait on burning any brush or using the burning barrel. Things like fireworks and tossing lit cigs out of the car window are a no-no for sure.

We actually have some haze in the air this morning from a big wildfire in NW WI. The fire in Douglas Co was 6 miles wide and a mile across as of yesterday and they were evacuating a lot of people potentially in its path. They have 6 airplanes on it, plus heavy equipment, and it is still out of control. So far it is over 3,500 acres, and is putting up a smoke plume visible for miles.

It was a pretty windy day yesterday, and it had to have that fire burning like a forge. That area also saw a big wind storm last July that leveled a lot of forest that will make it harder to access the fire and offer a lot of dead trees to burn.

A guy would be in a world of hurt if he started something like that illegally burning brush or a burning barrel.  You are liable for your fire, and it could be in the millions. Ouch. Not a good weekend, right?

It is pretty common for us to have high fire danger between when the snow goes away and the land greens up. The dead brush and grass from last year gets nice and dry from the spring sun, and is prime tinder to get a wildfire going.

We are not expecting any significant rain this week or weekend, so fire danger will be high over the weekend.

Last Tuesday I wrote about how I had only had two wood ticks on me over the weekend. That crashed and burned in grand fashion later last week. Tuesday night I found about 10 from walking between the back step and the grill a few times. Wednesday I did yard work all day and found plenty. Only one stuck.

Based on that experience I won’t go into great detail on how I remain mosquito bite free to date, but I will suggest that it is time to start bringing Repel with the outdoor gear..

When I was out in the work shed last week the hornets were already scouting nesting sites. They like the eaves of the shed and were on it. I have found in the past that a strategically applied dose of wasp/bee/hornet killer to those eaves ahead of time will keep them away all season.

The weather was cold last weekend, but the whitewater rafting was fantastic. The river is still above normal, and people were taking both rafts and the funyaks. Plenty of people got munched by the fast moving river, and people had a great time. This weekend the river will be  little lower, but still above normal. I am guessing it for about +9 or 10″ for the weekend. Having it around 70 instead of around 50 will be a little nicer.

This is the weekend that spring rafting ($45) becomes summer rafting ($25) at Kosir’s. It brings a chance to catch high water at summer prices, so it should be a popular weekend.

If you aren’t into the whitewater, no big deal. Kosir’s has really expanded their offerings. They have lazy river tubing, they offer sit on top kayaks (anyone easily can use these), and canoes that people can rent and go tour Caldron Falls Flowage, and now they are working on setting up pontoon boat tours. Here is a link to the tubing and kayaking page. I will have to get on one about the newer offerings.

People visiting the area this weekend will want to be on top of driving sober or having a designated driver. Rumor has the OWI task force is targeting Twin Bridge and Crivitz again this weekend. With them targeting the area on most of the busy weekends in recent memory, some area bars and restaurants have responded by making arrangements to offer sober rides. For a nominal fee you can get a round trip and leave the truck at home. Call your favorite places, chances are that they can help.

I have mentioned that the weekend ahead should be in the 70s and we aren’t expecting rain. The NWS has us for 66 Friday, 69 Saturday and 73 Sunday. They mention a chance of a shower or storm Friday night and Saturday night into Sunday.

The morning news had Green Bay in the upper 70s over the weekend with a very slight chance of a shower. The GFS is showing me a weekend a little above normal for temps. There is some precip in the region, but not affecting us at all on the QPF maps. There is a storm showing up to the west and south but the GFS has it staying there until Monday and Tuesday. Right now it looks like a nice weekend.

It looks pretty nice out right now (67 and sunny) and I have plenty of outside work to do, so I am going to go and dive into the day. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday May 7th, 2013

Greetings and welcome!

The weather this week and weekend looks mostly good with a few minor exceptions. Today and tomorrow look pretty nice with highs in the mid-70s. Thursday and Thursday night there is a decent chance of rain. Behind that storm we are expecting to cool off a little with highs in the low 60s for Friday and Saturday. Saturday there is a very minor chance of a shower. That storm will mostly miss us, bringing only about a 10-20% chance of a shower. It will be followed by colder air, and maybe upper 50s or low 60s for Sunday.

This weekend the Marinette and Oconto County ATV trails will open back up after the spring thaw. They were closed since April 8th to let the frost come out of the ground and let the soil firm up. Friday they open again.

This weekend is also Mother’s Day weekend. Kosir’s is offering a Mothers’s Day weekend special where Moms raft for free all weekend..

MOTHERS’ DAY MADNESS!

Take Your Mom out(side) for Mothers Day!

Moms Raft Free !**

May 10th – 12th, 2013

** When accompanied by a full paid rafter.

*Price includes wet suit & booties!

There are Mother’s Day buffets at Hilltop Resort and Twin Bridge Resort as well as Peshtigo River Resort. Peshtigo River Resort closed for the winter and will reopen Friday at noon.

If you are traveling in the area keep an eye out for deer, especially at night. The grass is greening up along the roads, and they are out along the roads feasting on it. I have seen a lot of deer this week and had to slam on the brakes more than a few times.

As I mentioned, the grass is greening up. There are new buds on trees starting to open with leaves, and the pussy willows are starting to bloom. I saw some emerging ferns and the first wildflowers over the weekend too. It is just getting started, but the greening of the land is under way.

So far the insect world is a little behind. I have only seen one mosquito (killed it..) and only two wood ticks all of last weekend. Considering the areas that I traveled, that is pretty good for the first week of May.

The whitewater rafting last weekend was fantastic. They had the big boats out for the 31+ inches of water flowing down the Peshtigo, and they were really burying them in the waves and rapids.

This was one of my favorite pictures from over the weekend. Believe it or not, this is a 15 or 16′ raft with 13 people in it. SMASH!

The river is now dropping from it’s spring peak, and is a little mellower, but still a fun ride. It peaked at 31 or 32 last weekend, and is down about 10″ so far.

I’d guess that water levels will drop to about +14 or 16″ for this weekend. That is a great level because the adventurous can take a funyak (1 person inflatable kayak), and people that prefer a raft can do that too. It will also be falling, making it a little less aggressive, but still splashy and fun.

Paddle this weekend if you can, it is the last chance to catch the spring runoff water. I still expect good water levels right through Memorial Day weekend, but they will probably be a little lower than this weekend.

Well I am off to go and dive into a beautiful 70 degree day. There have been a few so far this spring, but not on one of my days off. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday May 3rd, 2013

Greetings and welcome!

I stopped by the dam at Caldron Falls Flowage on the way to work Thursday afternoon and saw that Caldron Falls was ice free. From what I could see on the way by, High Falls was too. We have had a windy few days, so some wave action in addition to the warm week definitely helped move some ice off of area lakes.

The rivers are roaring from the warm weather and snow melt. The Peshtigo and Menominee Rivers are setting records for this date. That isn’t too surprising, the thaw is a week or two behind this year.

On the Peshtigo it will bring exceptional whitewater rafting for the weekend and beyond. The roaring Rapids section is roaring indeed, running at about +31 and 1,870cfs of water.I consider anything above 300cfs the fun zone, and above 800 merits a YEE-HA! 1,800+cfs is huge.

The river between High Falls and the Caldron Falls dam was looking a little swollen when I went by this afternoon, and it wasn’t a surprise. The dams will be releasing some water for sure. One cubic foot of water per second (cfs) adds up to about 1.98 acre feet of water per day. At 1,870cfs x 2 acre feet per cfs, the Peshtigo is putting 3,740 acre feet per day into Caldron Falls Flowage. At current flow rates it could raise Caldron 3.67 feet in a day. That is a little water.

The Menominee is a much larger river, and there is a lot more at risk when it floods.  Right now Niagara is under a flood warning, along with the rest of the areas that the river passes through on the way to Lake Michigan at Menominee/Marinette. The Niagara dam is wide open and the river is running at 12,000cfs. Slug is reporting that the river is over its banks by Bear Point and that people should be careful of floating debris lifted by the water going into the woods.

At Koss, MI pretty close to where it goes into Lake Michigan the Menominee is running at 15,200cfs. That is pretty huge. At that rate it could raise Lake Michigan about an inch every four days.

Anyway, if you are fishing the rivers this weekend be aware of swift currents and watch for floating debris. If you are not fishing, you should go whitewater rafting.

Now we are doing pretty good this spring compared to our neighbors to the northwest. If you go to northwestern WI they just got 12-16″ of snow, and 20 is possible some places. They are talking about 2′ of snow in the woods yet, and there won’t be much fishing on the lakes because they are still frozen over. They are expecting excellent conditions for cross country skiing this weekend though. Here is an article from the Milwaukee fish wrap.

Right now the boundary between the warm and cold air is over northwest WI, as it has been for a few days now. There was some high pressure to our east that was blocking its eastward movement. At that point the waves of precipitation were going along the boundary one after another like train cars on a rail.

Thursday afternoon that blocking high started breaking down, and we saw some pretty good waves of rain come through. Some FB friends spoke of a few rumbles of thunder, but I missed that. As of 12:30 am it is still raining, and now the porch has an icy glaze. The cement under it isn’t icy yet, but give it a little time to cool and it could get that way by morning.

Right now it looks like the whole stationary boundary thing is breaking down in a big way. If it all goes well it will rain a little Friday and then clear out and leave us a dry weekend. The forecast at the moment is for cloudy & 60 Saturday and partly sunny and 60 Sunday. If there was a Buy It Now button on the forecast I’d push it. It could be a lot worse.

The rain had the deer out in force tonight. I had a 13 mile ride home and don’t recall more than about a half mile or mile between e-stops for deer along the road, except on the county highway(C) between Red Pine BP and Kosir’s. West of Kosir’s it was back to deer every half mile.

The guess is that the rain and freshly greened up grass is moving them around. We just got our first green grass this week, and a lot of it will be in sunny areas along the road. They have been out in force for that. Rain moves them around anyway, and the lure of fresh green browse is bringing them out by the roads. Keep an eye out for them over the weekend.

Also noteworthy this weekend.. I saw an article a month or so ago that the OWI task force will be out in the Town of Stephenson and Crivitz area this weekend. Make good use of designated drivers this weekend.

I think that pretty much covers my list for the overnight update. If I think of something in the morning I’ll add it. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB