2018

Thursday October 11, 2018- Paddler’s alert ! Peshtigo River @ +24″

Greetings and welcome!

The rain has finally stopped. The USGS gauge says that we had 2.5″ in the last 3 days, but I think that was a little understated. I know when I was going to Crivitz yesterday it was raining so hard that I couldn’t go 50mph with the wipers going on high. The moderately heavy rain stayed with us for a few hours too. My wild guess is 3-3.5″ in the last 3 days.

As mentioned in the title, the Peshtigo River is WAY above normal, and is running at +24′. That is big whitewater excitement right there. Its mean flow for today is 300cfs, and we are at 1,490cfs. Private boaters should have an absolute blast this weekend. The graph did not show the river leveling out, so it is still on the rise. What is next? +26? +28? It wouldn’t surprise me at all.

The rain finally blew out of here this morning. I say blew out of here because it was followed by some very strong winds overnight. The roads had a lot of leaves on them this morning. It did cost us the color on a lot of the earliest trees like my maples and paper birch. Other species are still spectacular, but there are some bare ones in the mix now. It is amazing how fast things change around here. We went from full peak magnificent to 10% past peak in one day. That is ok though, some of the later season species of trees are coming into color. It is still a great show.

The leaves were not the only thing that went away. Yesterday’s high temperature of 58 was replaced by today’s high temperature of about 44. I looked and I don’t expect to see 50 degrees again until late next week. In the meantime I am expecting low and mid-40s and mid to upper 20s for overnight lows.

The cold weather was not lost on the mice. My trap line has been busy the past few days with three so far. It is the time of year where they try to invade and I am ready for them. After almost 20 years here I have tried a few things to stop them. This is the ultimate rig in the picture. It is a T-rex style trap with dry roasted sunflower seeds. The T-rex traps work good and are easy to empty and reset. The dry roasted sunflower seeds are the ultimate bait. They far outperform cheese, peanut butter, and the $9 for 2oz bottle of miracle attractant from the exterminator. They taste pretty good to me too..

Once in a while I will get a smart one that needs a sticky trap, but not very often. For those I use the seeds too. I put a pile right in the middle and scatter a few off of the sticky. They get a taste of the free ones and commit to the pile in the middle of the trap.

Mice are a fact of life around here. They are double jointed and have no collar bones, so they can squeeze through a very tiny gap. Even the nicest tightest houses can get them. This is how I deal with them and it is very effective.

I am going to close with one of those cool nature things.. Recently I have seen a few people/articles/movies claiming that the moon doesn’t rotate, that is why you see the same side all of the time. I disagreed, saying that it rotates, but does it a lot more slowly than the earth. Ok so I had to look it up. The moon does rotate, but instead of doing it on a 24 hour cycle like the earth, it takes 27 days for a rotation. At that point on a full moon, which also comes roughly every 27 days, it will show the same side as it did 27 days ago. It would be easy to think that it doesn’t move. Here is a link for more info.

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

RJB

Tuesday 10-9-18 Paddler’s Alert

Greetings and welcome!

It is raining again. Rain rain rain rain. We have had close to 2″ in the last two days and will be at about 3.5″ for the past 7 days by morning. This has totally shut down my firewood operation and put a crimp on a lot of people that work outside for a living. I guess we don’t have to worry too much about fire danger.

The whitewater rafting season is over, but the rivers are rocking for private boaters. The Peshtigo is rising fast and is at about a +16″, about 1,000cfs. The Wolf is also at about 1,000cfs, and the Menominee River is an enormous 5,000cfs. I will predict that the Peshtigo will hit +24″ by the weekend, and maybe more. We are lucky to see water levels like that in spring with the snow melt. To get it with 50+ degree weather is a blessing.

With all of this rain we were supposed to get 70 degree weather, at least that is what the TV said for Green Bay. Apparently we are on the other side of the line, we have been in the upper 50s. That seems fairly warm until you add rain, fog, and mist.

The Fall colors are rocking. Everywhere I look there is something orange, yellow or somewhere in between. The storm has finished off some of the earliest maples, but you wouldn’t hardly miss them with the rest of the world so colorful. On my ride between here and Peshtigo today the leaves around here are at peak or maybe 5% past. The area around Crivitz is just magnificent, and south of Hwy 64 the color is just coming into its prime. It is quite a show.

In events this weekend… The local paper oopsed the date on this one.. Crooked Lake Lion’s Club Octoberfest.. Featuring German food, a beer garden with music, meat raffles, and a craft show. There is more, follow the link.

The corn maze and pumpkin farm on Nejedlo Rd is open. Nejedlo Rd is the first road south of Wausaukee on Hwy 141.

A few miles south of there on 141 is Moonshine Hill Rd. On Moonshine Hill Rd there is an organic pumpkin farm. There is also the Camp 5 Terror, a haunted house that is open Fri & sat nights. Take Moonshine Hill Rd west a few miles to the stop sign. That is Camp 5 Rd. Be afraid, be very afraid.. Booo!

That is all that I have for events for right now.

I just saw the forecast animation on TV for tomorrow. They are calling for another 2.25″ of rain tomorrow before it finally ends. It also shows us under a flood watch. Hunters with a low lying trail or soggy spots on the way into the stand might need better boots.

One last item.. I have not seen snow here yet. Someone at the bar mentioned that last week’s storm actually dropped about 1.5″ of accumulating snow up near Iron Mountain. It won’t be long before we see it here too.

I have an insanely busy second half of the week coming up, so I am updating tonight while I can. I may be able to pull off a Fri report, but I can’t promise.

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday October 4th, 2018

Greetings and welcome!

We really really really dodged a bullet yesterday with the weather. The setup had me very concerned. Thankfully it went off with just some thunderstorms, gusty winds, and a sharp temperature drop.

We had some big thunderstorms early Wednesday morning that brought a lot of close lightning and about an inch of rain. That was the warm front coming north with the warm and humid air. The air was so thick that mist and fog hung in the air. Storms finally came yesterday after sunset. Again we had a lot of lightning and an inch or so of rain.

Let’s start at the beginning.. After the morning storms yesterday we had a 70+ degree day, and it was so humid that mist hung in the air. In some places down in the Fox Valley it got well into the 80s. On the other side of the front there was actually snow up in Canada just north of Minnesota. That temperature and humidity contrast alone would suggest some heavy weather was on the way. In addition to that the jet stream and the southern flow of the storm were creating a lot of wind shear and really setting the stage for widespread severe weather. The Storm Prediction Center (NOAA) had us in a category 3 out of 5 severe risk, where widespread severe weather and some tornadoes were likely.

The ONLY thing that saved us from severe weather and big tornadoes was that the sun couldn’t get through the clouds to create convection in the afternoon. If the sun could have boiled all of that humidity into storms the atmosphere would have just gone off like a city block of dynamite. You guys know that I am a long time weather nut and a trained storm spotter. I was very concerned about the potential for severe weather yesterday.

This morning is a much different day. The sun is out, there is low humidity and some wind, and we started the day out in the upper 30s. I am hiding from my wood pile at the moment, waiting for the day to warm at least a little.

The fall colors are in my opinion just about in their prime. The maples are really putting on a show. There is a lot of green woods still, but the early color is getting close to its peak. I have not been out yet to see how much the storm has stripped. I expect most of it to still be there with the late blooming of the color.

These are from yesterday. The pond picture was taken on Hwy A about two miles south of Hwy C. The power line pictures were taken on Hwy C about 1/2 mile west of Deer Lake Rd. The sign picture was taken when I was at Red Pine BP at Parkway & Hwy C, and the red & yellow picture is from my wood yard looking across the pond. The colors had not developed quite this much as I got closer to Crivitz, though there was plenty of color.

The one event that I am aware of this weekend is an ATV trail ride to see the fall colors with the Red Arrow Snowmobile & ATV club. The ride starts at the Old Town Hall Restaurant in Townsend at 9:30am and it returns for the booyah and meat raffle at 2pm.

I would expect that there are other events, but I have not been to the grocery store in Lakewood in a few days to check for event posters.

The dramatically shorter days are kicking my butt as far as fall outside work and firewood. The sun now sets at 6:30pm, and it isn’t getting any better as time passes.Between that and the October rains I have to grab every chance that I can to do outside stuff.

On that note I am off to cut and split some firewood. It is still only 44 degrees out, but at least it isn’t raining or dark. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 9-28-18

Greetings and welcome!

The big story today is how much the fall colors have changed in just a few days. Monday when I went to Lakewood there were a few pretty trees but not a lot. Yesterday when I went it was WOW. The early maples are really putting on a show and some other species are really standing out too. The ride from Silver Cliff down Hwy F was very nice, as was the ride north on 32. The big show part one is here. This is a maple from right by Wheeler Lake. It is pretty representative of what to expect. The show is starting and there is a lot more to come.

The fall weather is here too. Oconto Co is under a freeze warning for tonight. They could see a low of 29 tonight.  Here in Silver Cliff we are under a frost advisory. The NWS forecast has us for a low of 30 tonight and 36 Saturday nigh and low 50s for high temps Saturday and Sunday. I laugh when I see the weather maps like that and think thank goodness I didn’t move two miles south or 4 miles west, I’d be in the warning area..

Also a weather note.. I am seeing the first mention of snow in the forecast. Sunday morning could bring a little snow. The forecast is for a 30% chance of rain and snow showers before the day warms and makes it only a 30% chance of showers.

This weekend I only have one event, the Toys for Joy ride at Prospect Lodge. People bring toys to give disadvantaged kids, and they raise money with raffles and stuff after the ride. It is a big event and one of those good times for a good cause events.

Several people asked a while back when Crivitz would allow ATVs on the road. They set up routes and marked them sometime over the summer. I am not sure of routes, but the ones that I saw were down Hwy W by the lumber company and on the road by McDonalds the ATV route crosses 141.Beyond that I don’t know what the routes are, but yest they do have ATV road trails in Crivitz now.

Time for me to get back to work..

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB