October 2015

Thursday October 29, 2015

Greetings and welcome!

Well my optimism for last Saturday turned out to be all wet. It was a soggy day. Sunday was fantastic though.

Yesterday we had a long steady rain that brought at least an inch. By official tallies that puts us in at about 1.5″ for the week, but I think that it was probably closer to two inches.

The back of the Wednesday storm brought the first ground covering snow of the season Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Here at the house it covered the car and the charcoal grill, but not a lot of the grass. The morning news had a picture of white ground in Lakewood, and I saw it myself between here and Wausaukee.

There is another storm lining up on us for this Saturday. It is not as strong as the past couple of storms, but it still looks like a good chance of rain Saturday. Some of my guidance showed most of it staying south, so there is a little optimism.

This weekend the stakes are a little higher with prime hunting season and most communities in the area having trick or treat this Saturday.

Like last weekend, Sunday looks sunny and 55.

This weekend daylight savings ends. To some that means an extra hour of sleep when the clocks go back an hour Saturday nigh, to others it is an extra hour of bar time.

Personally I don’t mind an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day. It is to the point now where I go to work in the dark and get home at sunset or later, leaving outside activities like firewood or hunting for weekends only.

The fall colors are just about done now. There are a few soft hardwoods with a little color and the tamarack are in full color, but that it about it. The woods are looking pretty bare.

A lot of folks are talking about the El Nino taking the edge off of winter this year. It looks like a strong El Nino, and yes it is close to the 98-99 El Nino.

While that does not bode well for the snowmobiling season, I am still not buying that it will be a mild winter. I ordered my snow tires yesterday, and will be working on firewood, insulation, and the plow truck this weekend. The price for being unprepared its too high.

It also looks like the El Nino could peak early. I have seen a declining El Nino bring a lot of snow and some very real winters. It could be a mild winter, but as usual the plan is to be ready for anything.

That is it for me tonight. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday 10/22/15

Greetings and welcome!

Today’s travels took me to Lakewood at sunset and to points beyond. The fall colors are a lot thinner that way than they were last week. There are still a few nice ones, but it is starting to get pretty thin.

The deer were easy to find on the way back. Quite a few were along the roads after dark.

Since yesterday’s post several people have commented on the plentiful lady beetles this year. I noticed on the way in tonight that there were quite a few dead ones on the front door sill and that is the north side of the house. Maybe they did have a good year, just not here. Try that bug spray, the stuff works good.

The forecast has changed considerably for Saturday. The NAM and GFS forecast models are now showing a more protracted storm, and rain all day until about sunset.

It was supposed to clear out between 6 and 10am, but the latest models are showing a little secondary energy that will bring more rain for the afternoon. The NAM forecast model is showing 0.75-1″ by sunset Saturday.

You just never know how it will unfold. The outlook could change dramatically in the next day. It did yesterday..

The rule around here is be ready for anything, but don’t change your plans until you actually see it rain, snow, blow, go 30 below. I have seen too many weekends where people cancelled plans based on a forecast, and due to an errant forecast they missed a great weekend. Will this be one of them? I don’t know.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

10/21/15

Greetings and welcome!

Most of the fall color show has come and gone, but not all of it. The tamarack are coming into color. Some aren’t quite there yet, but a patch a half mile down the road will be in its full glory.

I am not sure if they are a maple or a beech, but some sort of tree like that is coming into color with big beautiful crowns of orange and yellow dotting the landscape. There is a spot looking to the west of 141 just south of Wausaukee that is really nice. I will have to figure out what species that they are, so far I have only seen them at 55 driving by.

Some seasonal attractions.. Driving by I saw that there is a haunted house on Moonshine Hill Rd just west of 141. I have no idea what it is about, I just saw a sign. Sounds fun though..

There has been a corn maze on Nejedlo Rd & 141 just south of Wausaukee for years. They are open again this year, and they have pumpkins too.

The weekend looks decent enough. There is a storm expected to blow through Friday night, and the forecast model that I checked showed it clearing out in time to leave us most of Saturday and Sunday in nice seasonal weather. I am expecting highs in the low to mid 50s and overnight lows in the upper 30s to mid-40s.

At this time of year it seems like almost every nice day comes with some wind. I’d expect that wind this weekend, especially with the parting storm. Likewise, if the skies are clear Saturday night it could turn into a cold night. Maybe we should change that low of 38 and make that a little flexible. Depending on cloud cover we could shave 8 or 10 degrees.

We have had some good hard freezes ( and a little snow too..) so the insect world has been rid of mosquitoes and ticks for the most part. The biggest pests right now are gnats and lady beetles. It has been pretty wind for gnats, so they haven’t been much of an issue.

As far as the Asian lady beetles, some friends have encountered the usual warm fall day swarms. I have seen only a few, but a lot of carcases. I had some ants earlier this year and I got some of this insecticide . It killed everything, apparently including the lady beetles. I think I have seen maybe 5 bugs in the last two months. At that point I might not be the best judge of the lady beetle activity this fall.

One last note, I have been working on the Big Snow Page quite a bit lately. It has a new home on a faster server, a new look, and some serious security protocols. It won’t be long before I start my updates over there and put this blog into hibernation.

Time for me to move on. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday October 16th,2015

Greetings and welcome!

The fall colors progressed some more this week and we are all of the way late season now. We had wind daily, and yesterday’s cold front brought some 40-50mph gusts. That stripped any vulnerable leaves from the trees.

That cold front also brought the first snow flakes of the season. Yesterday afternoon the wind really kicked up and brought some big dark clouds. Pretty soon it was a downpour, but it also had some chunky snow in it. That would be the first of the season for me. There was a dusting on the picnic table again this morning.

We have an event for this weekend, a booyah party with a meat raffle, ATV trail ride, volleyball and horseshoes.

This weekend looks like a cold one. The NWS has us for only a high of 42 today, 48 Saturday, and 52 Sunday. Tonight and Saturday night are forecast at about 25.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB