Friday 4-27-18 Quick Update

Greetings and welcome!

There are some updates to my last post..

First up whitewater rafting-

The Peshtigo River is cookin’ pretty good right now. If you are inclined to paddle the whitewater, this weekend the Peshtigo will be at prime water levels to do it. The river is running at about 26 or +27, 1610cfs, and it is an absolute blast when it is this high. Personally I’d go on Sunday when the temps are expected to go into the mid-60s.

Lake ice-

The small lake about 1/2 mile behind my house was about 2/3 ice-free yesterday, but it has my spring creek flowing through it. Farther down Boat Landing 11Rd Caldron Falls on the upstream end is 100% open as far as the eye can see from the road. The current seems to be the key here. When I was in Crooked Lake yesterday that lake was still locked up, but over the course of the day a lot of the snow melted down and the ice was dark. The sun will make fast work of that once it comes out.

Green stuff-

YES! I saw my first green grass yesterday and more today. I also saw some popples that had first new growth. The grand process has started. With the strange weather dragging winter on for an extra couple of weeks I would expect things to green up fast.

Soft ground-

It is getting better but we aren’t there yet. My driveway is almost firm enough that I can drive in without challenge. That isn’t the case everywhere. I talked to a lady yesterday that found herself close to a foot deep in mud on a sheltered forest road. She has a 4×4 and good tires so it wasn’t too much drama, but a passenger car would not have had a good ride. Next week will be in the 60s and 70s, so that and the lake ice should make progress.

That is news for today. Call Kosir’s and go rafting this weekend, the river is awesome right now.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Wednesday 4-25-18

Greetings and welcome!
I have been a busy boy and I am behind on everything including my blogging. We have a lot to talk about.

First up- Winter…

Ten days ago we had 11+ inches of snow, and in some places a lot more. Now we have had some warmer days, and most of that snow is gone. The exception is the areas to the north of buildings or thick stands of trees. We have had some 60+ days, and this week a couple of 70+ days. That has knocked down the sheltered area’s snow a little, but there are places where a foot or two remains.

Frost Out-

We had a lot of cold in the beginning of winter before it snowed. There is a decent frost in the ground. When the frost comes out of the ground the ground gets very soft and muddy. We have varying degrees of that happening right now. Most sunny spots are firm. The sheltered areas that still hold snow have not undergone the process yet or are in the various stages of it. Most of my ¼ mile long driveway is firm, but there are a couple of deep spots where it is shady. Rain and warm weather will speed the process. In the meantime I am wary of forest roads & gravel roads.

Lake Ice-

Forget it. The lakes are still frozen over. When I was in Townsend and Lakewood earlier this week both Waubee Lake and Townsend Flowage (at least the part that you can see from the road) was still solid with ice. I went across the X bridge on High Falls Flowage today and it was only open to the first island. Popp’s channel is still iced in. A visit to Caldron Falls Flowage Boat Landing #8 by the dam found the same conditions- ice.

Critters-

Critter sightings are way up this week. Two days ago I saw a Momma bear and two cubs in a field. Today I saw 4 different bald eagles. There were two dead skunks in the road in my 70 mile trip to Wausaukee, Crivitz, and the long way back to Silver Cliff, so they are coming out of hybernation. The deer are out by the roads looking for the first green chutes or maybe licking the road salt. They aren’t in any hurry to move so watch for them.

Bugs-

I have seen a few bugs so far, but no ticks or gators (mosquitoes..). I saw my first butterfly, some sort of river fly, and a couple of the regular kind. So far it has been one or two of each.

Whitewater Rafting and Paddling-

PeshFest was a blast. A lot of people came out for the raft and kayak racing and events, the pig roast, and the music. I met some really nice people and it seemed like everyone was having fun.

Today the river is up to about +24”. Take a sick day and go rafting or come this weekend. The weather is finally nice and the river is running at prime levels.

ATV Trails-

Right now we are still melting snow and getting the frost out of the ground. It could all firm up in a week, but I would be very surprised. My guess is that trails will open a week late (5/12). Only the counties and clubs know for sure when they will open, and that is weather dependent.

The greening of the land-

We should be seeing the first green sprouts any day now. So far I have seen nothing green even along the roads. I expect that to change in a couple of days. The closest that I have is that the red flower buds on the maple trees have cracked open, and it looked like a popple out front was getting first buds.

Spring peeper frogs-

My pond is open but surprisingly quiet. I have not heard the frogs at all yet. Like the first green sprouts, I am expecting them any day now.

Weather-

It looks like we have a cold front and some snow and rain coming for Thursday night and into Friday. Friday looks pretty wet. Thankfully Saturday and Sunday look much nicer. The NWS says that Friday will be in the low 40s Saturday will be in the low 50s, and Sunday in the low 60s.

That is what I know today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday 4-19-18

Greetings and welcome!

It looks like we are in for a fantastic weekend. The original forecast was for upper 40s to mid-50s. Now we are looking at mid-50s Friday, Upper 50s Saturday, and 61 on Sunday, with sunshine all three days. Yee Haw!

It will be a sloppy one though. The April sun and nice temperatures will make quick work of our foot of snow from earlier this week. That will make things a little muddy, but it will also make the river roar. That is well timed since we have a big event at Kosir’s this weekend.

People are very tired of winter around here. Hopefully this weekend is the beginning of a trend.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Sunday April 15th, 2018

11pm- I guess that we really did dodge a bullet on this storm at only 11+”. A lot of Facebook friends have it a lot worse.. cars completely covered by snowdrifts, doors drifted in 6 feet plus deep. Here is the best one so far from the Shawano Co Sherriff’s office. This was in Tigerton, where someone said that they had about 33″, and it drifted.

9pm- There are a couple of blobs of snow on the radar but the storm is pretty much over. I went out at 7pm and cleaned up the driveway where the county snowplow leaves a pile and a couple of passes on the main driveway. I had two additional inches on the car since I cleaned it off at 3. I measured 10-11″ consistently with a foot in deep spots..

From the sound of it we got off easy. The TV showed areas 40-100 miles from here that got over 20″ (Lena) and one spot had 29″ (Shiocton).

One notable aspect of this storm is how cold it was. According to Weather Underground the average high for 4-15 is 55 with an average low of 27. Most area stations stayed in the low or mid-20s. Just think.. if we were 20 degrees above normal instead of 20 degrees below normal it would have been 75 out today.

One happy thought.. I did not have to wear Repel at all today. Not a mosquito in sight.

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

5pm- The snow has stopped for now. We have had 1-2″ since I plowed. Is it really over?

3pm- There is a lot of snow out there. I measured 9-10″ consistently, and there were deeper spots. I am very happy that I plowed and ran the snowblower, both had about as full of a load as I like to run them.

(I am near Hwy C & F in Silver Cliff) County C was dead quiet, there was no waiting for traffic when I turned around and cleared the mailbox. It was about 3-4″ deep. I know that it had been plowed at least once. They left a nice pile at the end of the driveway and mauled my mailbox.

150pm- 7-8″ for sure, probably more where the wind pushed it.

130PM

That is more like it. It has been snowing like this for a few hours now and it is adding up. Time to go plow while it is manageable. Looks like some heavy waves on the way. I will bring the tape measure along when I go out. RJB

10:45am

Greetings and welcome!

We are under a winter storm warning, but only a couple of miles southeast they are under a blizzard warning.

A Blizzard Warning (code: BZW) is an advisory issued by the National Weather Service of the United States which means sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph / 15 m/s or greater with heavy snow is forecast for a period of 3 hours or more. A tends to reduce visibility to 1/4 of a mile (400 m) or less.

.

Ok.. umm.. we don’ have that here. I went out at 10:30am and measured snow in the yard on the north, east and south sides of the house. My lowest measurement was 3″ and my highest was six. Most were between 3- 5″. The wind was blowing the snow at an angle but it was not particularly strong wind or heavy snow.

There were a lot of places on the morning news that had a lot stronger winds and a lot more snow. I am not sure how or why we are getting off easy, but it seems to be going that way. I was thinking to myself on the way back in.. what is this, snowmobile season? We are supposed to get a foot plus and a blizzard and we have 3-5″ and a little wind?

I am a little puzzled by it, but believe me I am not complaining.

I checked the WPS power outages web site and they are doing a lot better than expected too. There are no outages in our area, and a grand total of 225 people out in their entire service area. They probably aren’t too mad about it either.

Here are a couple of pictures..

RJB