2016

Wednesday 8/17/2016

Greetings and welcome!

The forecast for the weekend has changed in the past few days. At one point we were looking at rain Thursday and Friday, and a nice but cool Saturday and Sunday. Sunday still looks nice.

When I was looking at the forecast model getting ready for my update tonight I saw the Fri-Sat storm and thought that if it were winter, I’d be pretty excited right now. It is a good sized southern storm with a near-perfect path to put us in the heavy precip and a good amount of moisture to work with. I’d also be a little skeptical of the 1-2″ rain (1-2 feet of snow..) and perfect storm path three days out on the forecast.

Like big winter storms there is cold air following this storm. We will be going from mid-80s Friday to upper 60s Saturday. That is a pretty big contrast. Right now it looks like a cool and wet Friday and Saturday and a nice day Sunday.

Last week I spotted my first ferns and underbrush beginning to die off. It won’t be long before we see the first splashes of color.

Critter sightings were pretty typical this week with lots of turkeys and deer, especially after this morning’s rain. The highlight of the week was when what I think was a barred owl swooped down and grabbed some dinner right in front of the car. I was going pretty slow and got a good show.

The wasp hunt.. Yesterday I was walking around the house and sheds looking to see where the paper wasps were setting up their nests this year. Usually I get at least two big nests every year, and the eaves of the work shed and wood shed are favorite locations. There is one in the work shed at about chest level, but it is small.

The fact that the one that I did find is so low has me a little nervous about stuff like opening the hood on the tractor or plow truck. I expect to have at least two big nests, I just haven’t found them yet.

Here are some events for the weekend.. (Thanks Chris!)

Aug. 20
5th Annual Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club fundraiser
Animal’s Bear Trail Inn, Mountain – noon to 6pm
Raffles, food & beverages – All proceeds from this event will go toward maintaining current ATV trails/routes and creating new ATV trails/routes in the townships of Doty, Riverview and Lakewood in Oconto County

August 20
10th Annual Open Bass Tournament Fundraiser for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Tournament Headquarters at The Hawk (formerly Mohawk Resort) on Lake Noquebay – $100 per boat, 2 man boats
5:00am Boat Check, 5:30am Pre-tournament Meeting, tournament from 6:00am – 2:00pm Sharp.
For more information, Call Darrell at 715-927-1219

Aug. 21, 2016
St. Mary’s of the Lake 19th Annual Parish Picnic
Outdoor Polka Mass. Food, Refreshments, Booyah. Polka Music. Bucket, Cash, Meat Raffles. Kids games.
All are welcome. – More Information

Aug. 25-28
Marinette County Fair – County Fair Grounds, Wausaukee
Demoliton derbies, horse, truck and tractor pulls, animal judging, exhibits, bands, family entertainment and carnival

Sept. 3
Crooked Lake Fire Department Annual Breakfast.

Sept. 3
10th Annual Red Arrow Corn Roast and ATV/UTV Parade
at Old Town Hall Bar and Restaurant, 17767 HWY 32, Downtown Townsend
Parade starts at 10:30AM from Red Arrow Clubhouse to Corn Roast.
Corn Roast from 11AM till ??. Food & Beverages, Free Sweet Corn, Meat Raffles, DJ, Music.

Sept. 3
5th Annual Lake Noquebay Musky Tournament
Tournament Headquarters at The Hawk (formerly Mohawk Resort) on Lake Noquebay – $75 per boat, 2 man boats
5:00am Boat Check, 5:30am Pre-tournament Meeting, tournament from 6:00am – 2:00pm Sharp.
For more information, Call Darrell at 715-927-1219

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday 8-11-16

Greetings and welcome!

We had a hot and steamy week this week. The rain that came Thursday morning held some promise of clearing out the humidity that was so thick that it was foggy. It did clear some of it out, but not all of it. The muggies are in full force outside tonight.

The rain also held promise of a big storm. With the morning fog and overcast the sun never did get any strong convection going, so it ended up being a nice steady soaking rain. Out in Western WI they saw as much as 8″ and it is a disaster. Radar returns showed areas west of Rhinelander in the 1-3″ range, and I would guess our rainfall to be about 1/2″. Rain chances will persist into Saturday morning, and then we are in for a nice weekend with temps around 80.

We needed the rain. Lawns have gone brown and the rivers are dropping. Fire danger isn’t crazy high, but I’d sure be careful with burning.

There are a lot of events this weekend. The top of the list is the Silver Cliff Picnic and Parade. The parade starts at Landing 11Rd & Hwy C and goes east to the picnic grounds near C & I (Parkway north.)

The Middle Inlet VFD is having their annual picnic Saturday. I saw the keg on the wire thing, so water fights are likely on the menu, along with the traditional picnic.

In Amberg there is a charity duck race where they dump zillions of plastic ducks in the river and the person that sponsored the winning duck gets a prize.

There is a Fisherie & Corn Roast at Roberts Lake near Wabeno on Hwy W.

Chris has details on some of these events on her calendar..

August 13
39th Annual Silver Cliff Fire & Rescue Aux. Picnic – Silver Cliff Memorial Picnic Grounds
Parade line-up at 9 AM, Parade at 10 AM – Picnic from 11 am – 5 pm  – Food & Drink, Games & Raffles, Fun for the whole family

August 13
Annual ACA Duck Run at the County V Park west of Amberg
Starts at 11am, public is invited. Paddle wheel, raffles, food and refreshments. Ducks for sale at Mathis Hardware, Driftwood Sport & Fuel, Amberg Pub.

Aug. 13, 14, and Aug. 18-21
Oconto County Fair – Zippel Park, Gillett
Demolition derbies, horse, truck and tractor pulls, animal judging, exhibits, bands, family entertainment and carnival

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

Wednesday August 3rd, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

It was another hot and juicy day today. Most area weather stations reported high temperatures in the low 90s. There was plenty of humidity too. There was a lot of mist in the trees on the way to work this morning.

The sun and warm juicy day tried to whip up some thunderstorms, but couldn’t get anything going beyond a quick local shower or downpour. As soon as the clouds started getting higher to form a thunderstorm, winds at the mid-levels would blow the tops off before anything could get rolling. We did have some really impressive and majestic clouds, but they just couldn’t get an organized storm going.

Tomorrow we are expecting more hot and juicy August weather, but the story ends a little differently. Later tomorrow we are expecting a cold front and some possibly strong showers and thunderstorms. That same cold front is expected to keep us in pleasant weather right through the weekend with upper 70s for daytime high temperatures and mid-50s at night.

That is a good thing, we have only a few weekends left before Labor Day and some good events ahead. Here is Chris’ list..

August 6
Bear Point Float Trip and Picnic
Bear Point Yacht Club– Hwy 180 – Wausaukee – Float Trip starts at 11:00 AM

August 6
9th Annual Rustic Fest – Rustic Inn, Silver Cliff
Featuring Jess Hav’n Phun – 7 to 11 pm – bring a lawn chair

Aug. 6, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
38th Annual Lakes Country Arts & Crafts Show
At the Lakewood Town Hall and Activity Center, Free admission and free parking. No pets allowed.
Sponsored by the McCaslin Lions. Food and refreshments on the grounds. – See more at: Visit Website for details

August 6
36th Annual Bob Burton Memorial Open Bass Tournament on Lake Noquebay – $100 per boat, 2 man boats
Tournament Headquarters at The Hawk (formerly Mohawk Resort)
Pre-tournament Meeting at the Hawk at 5:30am, tournament from 6:00am – 2:00pm Sharp.
For more information, Call Darrell at 715-927-1219

The word on the street is that the Bear Point float trip was huge last weekend. That had to be fun.

Next weekend is a really big weekend for events throughout the area. I will work on a comprehensive list.

I found out this week that we have some new people running the Caldron Falls Bar. Stop in to meet Leslie and Dan and see what is new. They also own Smokin’ Q, and barbecue catering business, and they will be having smoked baby back ribs Saturday nights, complete with homemade sauces. Sounds delicious!

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Wed 7/27/2016

Greetings and welcome!

We have been having a lot of hot weather lately, and now that is finally coming to an end, at least for a little while. Last Friday when I walked out to the car the car thermometer said 104ºF. The bank clock across the street said 94, a lot closer to reality. The weekend and early week stayed warm too.

Tonight I am watching a cold front heading this way, marked by a wave of showers and storms. Behind that I am expecting weather in the upper 70s and low 80s right through the weekend. The weather looks nice, enjoy it while you can.

Here are weekend events:

July 30
Bear Point Float Trip and Picnic
Bear Point Yacht Club– Hwy 180 – Wausaukee – Float Trip starts at 11:00 AM

July 30
Eagle Creek 11th Annual Car Show – Fun, Food, Prizes and Trophies
Registration from 9am – Noon – Trophies in 20 Entry Classes – Entry Fee $5.00 – Call Mike at 715-856-5642 for further information.

July 30 – 11am – 7pm
5th Annual Wienerfest North at the Lakewood Park & Pavilion
Food & beverages, entertainment, meat raffle, more – All profits to benefit the our troops & veterans
visit website for details

July 30
Ride For Rescue sponsored by the Crivitz Rescue Squad
100 mile motorcycle ride starting at Riverside Tavern. Registration at 10:30 with the ride leaving at 11:30 sharp. Raffles, food, and music. Proceeds benefiting the Crivitz Rescue Squad. Visit Website for Details.

I am going to tell you a little more about that Weinerfest. The top attraction is the Happy Schnapps Combo, the ‘Second Week of Deer Camp’ song guys. That has to be fun. It also needs to be said that this is a military benefit event and you just might see some old military equipment there, or so I hear. At any rate this is a recommended event.

One more event is the Wagner VFD Fireman’s Picnic. That is held at the town hall about a dozen miles east of Wausaukee. Where Hwy 180 turns south, Hwy JJ keeps going east. The event is about a mile down JJ. Mix that with a trip to DeYoung Zoo a few miles east of there, and the Bear Point Float Trip a few miles west, and you have a pretty fun day.

Critter sightings are way down this week, but that is probably more a function of my work schedule than nature.

Speaking of work schedules, I really have to run. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB