May 2019

Friday May 31, 2019

Greetings and welcome!

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for the area. The roads and the bars and restaurants were packed and the gas stations were very busy. The people that came to whitewater raft were well rewarded with great water levels and big adventure.

There was some wind Saturday, and not just a little. I saw a couple of people cleaning up dead trees that had fallen in driveways. That was about it for bad weather. Monday afternoon did bring some rain, about 1.25″ of it.

We have had a dry week since the Monday storm’s departure. That is expected to change later today. There is a decent chance of showers and storms this afternoon and this evening. There is even a slight chance of severe weather.

We have a warm moist air mass over us. Today is expected to be in the mid-80s and humid. Later in the day the storm will introduce much cooler air to the area for the weekend. The rain chances are the best between noon and about 10pm, though there is a chance of rain up until about noon Saturday. Look for high temps in the mid and upper 60s Saturday and Sunday. As far as overnight low temperatures they should be around 50 tonight and low 40s Saturday night.

I did cut the grass this week. It was well past time to do that chore. All of our rain this spring had the ground still quite soggy in some spots making the grass very tall there.

Looking into the woods is a lot different than it was a couple of weeks ago. The underbrush has grown leaves and really filled in. The ferns are getting tall and are about to spread their leaves.

As far as bugs go, summer is here. When I was out and about this week I did run into both wood ticks and swarms of hungry gators (mosquitoes). I did use my Repel 40 when I was in the woods and I was glad that I had it.

June first is tomorrow. The first thing that comes to mind is that deer should be having their fawns about now. Keep a sharp eye out for the little ones. They can be a little unpredictable when they are by the roads.

The water levels have only gone down a little and the whitewater rafting remains outstanding for this weekend. The Peshtigo River is at about a +20″, and the Menominee is still to high to raft, but it is getting close, running between 5-7,000cfs.

That high water makes for awesome waterfalls, and a waterfall tour is a great idea right now.

The only event that I have on my list this morning is the Near North open house. Here is a poster. Check last week’s update for events for next weekend.

It is common for me to be overwhelmed with work at this time of year, and this year is no different. I have some cool pictures to share from a road trip this week but work calls and I will have to follow up with them another day. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday May 21st, 2019

Greetings and welcome!

Memorial Day weekend is coming right up and I am NOT going to let the week get ahead of me like I did the past few weeks.

Let’s start with the weather.. We have had 2″ of rain so far this week. That happened Saturday night and Sunday. Personally I think that it was more like 3″ but the 2″ is the USGS gauge by Kosir’s.

There is more rain on the way. There is a big blob of the stuff coming on the radar as I type this at 9pm Tuesday night. That storm will last into tomorrow and bring a 1/2″-1″ rainfall with more possible where a storm cell hits. With all of the yellow in the river of moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico that might be a little understated.

Thursday looks really nice before the rain returns for Friday and Friday night. According to current forecasts it should clear up about 1-2am Saturday morning.

The weekend weather after Friday night looks fantastic.  The current forecast is for mostly sunny weather with mid-70s for highs and mid-40s for low temperatures. The only mentions of rain are for Friday night and for Monday night. I wish that there was a buy it now button on the weather forecast so that we could lock that in..

Next up let’s do some events. Here are the posters that I got with my phone over the past week or two. There some that I missed. There is also an auction in Crooked Lake this weekend. The Brat Fry/Meat Raffle is one day, the auction is the other. Bob Heckler- The Piano Man is playing at Rapids Resort I believe Sunday night. I will try to nail that down tomorrow or Thursday.

Here are some future events for the weekends of June 1st and 8th.

The spring greening up is a little behind this year by my estimation. I am ready to cut the grass for the first time. You can still see pretty far into the woods, but that will not last long as the underbrush is starting to show first leaves. The ferns are about a foot high and just getting to unroll their tops. The choke cherries are in bloom adding a splash of white here and there. The marsh marigolds are absolutely going off right now, they seem to be having a very good year. The really tiny white and blue flowers (wild strawberries?) started blooming this week. Today I saw my first trillium flower of the year. The distant viewed hardwood forests are starting to put on a little bit of a show with the different colors of green. There is something new every day.

As far as bugs I have not spent a lot of time outside in the past couple of days. So far I have only been pestered by gnats. I have not had a tick or gator (mosquito) yet. I don’t believe for a second that the mostly bug free spring is going to last much longer.

Whitewater rafting this weekend is going to be exceptional. The Peshtigo River is really high and it will not be going down much by the weekend. Right now it is at about +26″, a really really fun level. I am telling you that you should make some rafting part of the weekend plan. You can’t buy more adventure or excitement for $30 anywhere. At this level they will be taking rafts, probably with 2-4+ people in them. If you ever went rafting and scraped down the Peshtigo when it was low come see what it is really about. I was lamenting today that I no longer do the pictures and videos there. People are going to have a blast.

The Menominee River is really high too. At the moment it is too high for the comercial outfitters. Usually the stop running t about 5,000cfs. Right now it is over 12,000cfs. That is the highest that it has been on this day in the 26 years of the gauge recording it by 2,000cfs. I expect that it will probably settle down in time for weekend rafting, but it should be at the high end of the commercially runnable zone. That river is an amazing rafting trip when it is big.

Can ya tell that I am kinda excited about the rafting this weekend? Kosir’s.com or 715-757-3431.

The same wet spring that has the river so high also has local lakes and wetlands a lot fuller than normal. I have seem where docks were under water on local lakes, and some of the local little frog ponds are twice their normal size. ATV riders are reporting some huge puddles on the trails, including a couple that most people will want to go around. Dust is not an issue, nor is fire danger.

So we have a pretty good outlook for Memorial Day weekend. Frosting on the cake? Gas prices! Right now they are around $2.79. They always find a way to jack it a dime or $0.50 right before the holiday, but right now it is pretty reasonable. It is great that it will be somewhat affordable to feed our trucks and toys.

I am going to try to update later in the week with any additional events and last minute weather and river forecasts. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 5-17-19

Greetings and welcome!

I guess that I do this on Fridays now. I usually shoot for Tuesday bit the world has kept me a little busy the last few weeks.

Anyway..

The grass is very green now and heading for needing the first cutting. Down in Crivitz they have dandelions and it is ready for the first cut on a lot of lawns.

The dogwoods, choke cherries, and marsh marigolds are in bloom. The cottonwoods are getting their first light green leaves, putting on a little bit of a show. The birch have their tubular catkins. You can still see pretty far into the woods, but that is not going to last long.

The whitewater season from heaven continues. The Peshtigo River is down to about +16”, a really fun and rowdy level. It won’t be staying there for long.

Late this week I managed to take some forest roads. They were dried up enough, but they had not been for long. Earlier in the week they were still a little muddy and there were a couple of washouts.

The ATV trails open in Marinette County this week, actually they opened today. I just checked the Red Arrow web site and the Oconto County trails open today too. They will have some detours in Townsend and near Crooked Lake as they continue to repair trails.

I mentioned that the Peshtigo River won’t be staying at +16” for long. That is based on the weekend forecast. The rain is expected to start Friday night and go off and on until Sunday night. On the NAM forecast model there are some heavier waves Saturday, Saturday night, and Sunday. According to the TV we could see 3” of rain. Look for highs around 50 and lows around 40.

Speaking of weather, we had some warm days this week. Thursday I was overdressed after a cool morning. I was roasting pretty good. I was still surprised when I got home and looked and we had a high of 85. Wow. Athelstane Weather also marked 80 on Wednesday.

Yes that brought some bugs out. The bug of the week is the gnat. They were not swarms like they can be, but they were present. There are some ticks too.

It has been a very wet spring. Small ponds like mine and some lakes are above normal for water levels. It is also the first spring that I recall not having to worry about fire danger between when the snow goes away and the grass greens up.

I still have some catching up to do on this update. I have a few pictures that I hope to share, and I have been gathering up events. Hopefully our wet weekend will let me get some computer time in and get that done.

One final parting thought… Every year is different, but here is a little advice. Years ago when I tried my hand at gardening around here I fell into the trap of planting stuff in mid-May when the weather got nice. Every year my garden got frostbitten. Every year. Now my rule is that anything that I want to plant outside goes either in trays or portable containers that I can put inside, or they don’t go out before June 10^th. It seems a little goofy in light of yesterday’s 85 degree day, but two and three days ago I had heavy frost on my cars at sunrise both days.

Time to get some Z’s. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 5-10-19

Greetings and welcome!

I had a brutal week for time demands, car problems, and other challenges. Today I am not dealing with any of it until I catch up here.

First up Marinette County ATV trails will NOT be open this weekend again. The official opening date is Friday May 17^th. Oconto County remains closed as well, but they have not announced an opening date. People are urged to stay off of the trails while they dry out. People that violate will likely be called in by people who would love to ride but are honoring the closure. Just stick it out. It is only a week away.

Item two is the Wednesday-Thursday rain storm. Golly that was a good one. It started here about 3pm Wednesday and got really heavy overnight. There were quite a few times that I could hear it pounding on the roof over the TV and heater.

There was a big storm to our west. We were in the river of really heavy moisture feeding it from the Gulf of Mexico. The radar showing the river of rain was dark green, yellow, and orange most of the night.

Driving to work at 5am Thursday morning was a challenge. It was a pounding downpour. Even with Rain-X and good wipers I had very little visibility.

We should be glad that it was rain. The western UP and far northwestern WI got snow.

The USGS gauge by Kosir’s put the storm at about 2” of rain. I would say that is close but maybe a little understated. Rivers, ditches, swamps, and low areas are all totally flooded again like they were when the snow melt hit its peak.

Naturally whitewater rafting will be exceptional this weekend. Typically we would expect the Peshtigo River to be at +6 or +8 inches above zero today (zero being the river’s typical summer flow). It is at about a +26” right now and clearly on the rise.

As far as volume of water our mean flow for today over the past 20 years is 601cfs. Today we broke the 20 year record of 1,530cfs by 50cfs for a morning flow of 1,580.

Bottom line, that is some REALLY exciting whitewater. Call Kosir’s at 715-757-3431 or go to Kosirs.com and book your trip on line.

As far as spring getting here, it seems a little late but we are greening up. I am seeing new plants and trees getting in on the act every day. We are not at time to cut the grass yet, but it is coming in a week or two. Right now it is a good time to clean up the stuff that was hidden by last year’s tall grass or ferns. It will again soon be buried.

I have not been pestered by the insect world yet, but that day is right around the corner. Some people are reporting their first tick encounters of the year.

Monday night we had a really nice sunset. I managed to grab a couple of pictures to share.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB