April 2016

Monday April 11, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

The winter weather is bitterly hanging on, but loosing ground daily.

Friday we had a lot of wind and some snow. The snow drifted over east/west roads and made slippery spots. I didn’t think that we had very much until I got home and found 3+ inches of fresh snow.

The sun quickly ate it on roads and sunny spots. When I went to Antigo Saturday morning there were only maybe 10 miles of slippery road right near Antigo where they got a little more snow. The rest was mostly dry. By 11am the bad spots were mostly wet or gone.

Saturday and Sunday stayed in the 30s, and today was cold and windy again. The normal high temperature is around 50, we have been around -10 on that.

Right now there is probably 2″ of crusty snow in the yard and plenty of bare sunny spots.

When I went to Antigo Saturday Waubee Lake was wide open. Townsend Flowage was open in some areas and iced over in others. The lake about 10 miles east of Antigo was still frozen where the sun couldn’t hit it and open where it could.

As of about Thursday we are going to transition to much warmer weather. High temperatures in the 60s looks pretty likely and the TV says maybe 70 Sunday. The melting snow and frost in the ground might make the ground a little soft and soggy this weekend.

From what I can see we are not expecting any more snow and cold after Wednesday, at least for a couple of weeks. I am finally comfortable unplugging the heater in the well house and unplugging the heat tape on plumbing. That will probably happen Saturday.

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

RJB

Thursday April 7th, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

The snow Tuesday night ended up being 3-4″ of fairly wet snow. The sun ate about half of it Wednesday. The snow was off and on Wednesday, including a squall with silver dollar sized flakes coming fast. It didn’t add up to much on the roads, but some probably accumulated on snow covered areas.

Wednesday night we had a little rain snow mix that added up to a crusty half inch or so. It was enough to glaze roads and make the ride to work Thursday an icy one.

As of Thursday night there is a sturdy inch or so of crusty snow in the yard. There is a bare spot in the driveway where it is sunny, but most of the ground is covered.

We have had a few nights in the teens this week and the ground is again frozen, at least on the top.

Tonight we could see an inch or so accumulate by dawn, and a total of 2-5 by tomorrow night.

Follow that up with teens for lows Friday night and low 30s for high temperatures Saturday, Sunday another storm brings a chance of rain or snow.

Winter is not giving up.

Looking ahead I am still seeing a big warming trend coming in about a week. We are ready.

That’s news for tonight.

RJB

Tuesday April 5th, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

Winter is hanging on in Silver Cliff. As of 8:30pm we are heading toward the 2″ mark, and it is snowing heavily. The forecast is for 3-5, and it looks like we will be in the higher amounts based on the radar.

It has been seasonably cold, and sometimes, like last night, in the mid-teens. I have been wanting to turn off the heater in the well house, but it just isn’t time yet.

People are anxious to put the snow and cold behind them, but that isn’t looking good. I looked ahead on the GFS forecast model, and I don’t see any big warm-ups for a while.

Reports have some lakes open.  I have not seen the flowage yet to see if the bigger bays are open.

The thawing has certainly slowed down. The really sheltered spot in the road that was soft a few days ago is frozen up again.

There is another smaller storm expected for late week. That could bring a little snow, as well as cold temperatures for the weekend. The NWS has us for mid-teens Friday night and low 30s Saturday.

RJB

Thursday March 31, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

Here we are a week later, in the final rigors of another strong storm that tracked perfectly to give us heavy snow. We dodged the bullet on this one so far, but the last few waves are bringing snow. About 20 miles west they had white ground today.

Last Thursday’s storm ended up being the biggest of the past two winters by my recollection. I am not sure about three years ago.

As happens behind big storms, we had some cold weather. It wasn’t too far below normal, but after the stretch of warm weather it seemed cold. Three weeks ago tomorrow the bank clock in Wausaukee said 67. Today’s high might have hit 40, and normal is about 42-45.

The sun is getting pretty strong now, and even with the cooler weather, the snow got eaten pretty quickly.

Today’s rain just about finished the snow off. There were only a few splotches here and there where the sun couldn’t reach it when I was driving home from work.

A lot of us snowmobilers lamented that it didn’t come sometime over the course of the winter, and it would have been particularly helpful three or four weeks ago before the trails melted and the frost came out of the ground.

Before the big storm a lot of the frost came out of the ground in sunny and open areas. Those areas are still firm, but a little muddy from the rain and snow.

Some more sheltered areas still held snow or didn’t thaw quite as much when it was warm, and the frost is slowly coming out there. Those areas are still pretty soft.

I have been looking for the first green, but it isn’t there yet. The most green that I saw today was some winter wheat down by Crivitz. It is normal to start seeing the first green in April, but May really is the beginning of the big green-up, so it is a little early.

There was a fitful little snow and wind squall that came through town about 1pm today. It rained and snowed hard, along with some gusty winds. It was over pretty fast so there was no accumulation.

There is another pair of clippers coming for Saturday and Sunday. When I looked today Saturday’s looked like it would hit more in Central WI. Sunday’s clipper was a little farther north and could bring us 1-3″ of snow.

This weekend is the Town of Stephenson VFD benefit ar The Woods. It is a chicken dinner buffet and free tap beer for $10.

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

RJB