2019

Friday June 7th, 2019

Late edit; Darn it! I missed the Dockside fishing tournament & Fish Fry in my events.

Greetings and welcome!

We have a warm and sunny weekend coming up. There is no chance for rain until Sunday afternoon. Expect clear skies and a hi/lo of 82/52. It will be a good weekend for campfires with mild nights and lots of stars, and it will be a good weekend for getting wet.

We are drying out a little finally. The gravel roads and ATV trails are dusty. There are still some huge puddles on the ATV trails and the ground in sheltered areas is still wet.

The grass and underbrush are growing like crazy. The grass that I cut 3 days ago is getting a little shaggy in spots. The ferns are about to bust out with big leaves.

Bugs? Bring Repel. It is summer. Ticks and gators are very active. I saw some mayfly type bugs and the butterflies are back too.

There have been some bear sightings including one that I spotted on the way to work a couple of days ago. The deer are a little skittish and probably have fawns. I spotted a fox on the way to work this morning. I e-stopped and swerved and missed him. On the way home I saw that he played in the road too long and had a bad ending. I have not seen the turtles up on gravel roads yet but it is that time of year.

The whitewater rivers have calmed down a lot in the past couple of weeks. They are still a little above normal, making them a good choice for getting wet on a hot weekend. The Peshtigo is about a +6 or +7″ and the Menominee is running between about 2,300 and 3,300cfs, both rivers are at fun levels. Kosir’s started tubing for the summer too.

As far as events, there is a flea market at the Silver Cliff picnic grounds Saturday, there is an ATV trail ride, meat raffle and pig roast with the Red Arrow Snowmobile & ATV Club in Townsend, and a breakfast on the farm.

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

RJB

Sunday Night 6-2-19

Greetings and welcome!

Update- It did frost overnight. I had a decent layer of frost on the cars at sunrise and a low of 28.
11pm Sunday night..

I have a(nother) crazy week ahead so I am getting a head start with my update..

The question that I was asked at least 6 times today.. Ray are my flowers going to freeze tonight? The short answer was yes, most likely they will. The extended answer was watch the sky. If it is clear go cover them up. If it is cloudy they will probably make it.

The forecast low for tonight is 35, but with areas of frost after 2am. The TV weather channel out of Green Bay shows us in the southern part of the area that says ‘Widespread Frost’. As of 11pm it is only 39.

  FROST ADVISORY  ATHELSTANE AREA

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Areas Affected:
Florence – Forest – Langlade – Lincoln – Northern Marinette County – Northern Oconto County – Oneida – Southern Marinette CountyEffective: Mon, 6/3 1:00amUpdated: Sun, 6/2 10:58pmUrgency: ExpectedExpires: Mon, 6/3 7:00amSeverity: MinorCertainty: Likely

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Details:

...WIDESPREAD FROST EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING
ACROSS NORTHERN WISCONSIN...
.Light winds and clear skies will allow temperatures to fall to
around 30 degrees across Vilas County, and in the lower to middle
30s across the rest of north-central and far northeast Wisconsin
tonight. These conditions will support widespread frost and
freezing conditions to develop.
...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 7 AM CDT
MONDAY...
* TEMPERATURE...Lows tonight will fall into the lower to middle
30s.
* IMPACTS...Sensitive vegetation may be damaged or killed if not
covered, brought indoors, or otherwise protected from the cold
temperatures.

Information:

A Frost Advisory means that frost is expected. Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left uncovered.

June 10th is my recommended first planting day unless you can cover the plants up or bring them inside. I have fallen for the nice weather in May and planted a garden probably 12 of my 20 years here, and had frost about every time. I really don’t know how tonight is going to end but it is already cold enough to start the wood burner.

The fun part is that it is going to be in the 70s the rest of the week, with a couple of days getting close to 80. Low temps after tonight are expected to be in the 50s through the weekend.

I did have a classic spring in Silver Cliff scenario a couple of days ago.. I ran the little electric heater overnight and the air conditioner 8 hours later. You just have to chuckle about stuff like that. That is why I usually have shorts, long pants, a sweatshirt and a coat in the car at any given time. It is just part of living in northern WI.

We have had a very wet fall, an unusually heavy snow winter and a wet spring this year. No one expected 4-5 feet of snow in February, or for the precip to keep coming and coming and coming. It has been a really wet spring. The Peshtigo River is finally settling down a little, but it has not been under +12″ yet this year. That is very unusual. My pond is a lot bigger than usual as are most lowland puddles and ponds and most smaller lakes. The ground in the forest is still very wet, and there are some nice puddles on the ATV trails.

The unusual part is that this is an El Nino year.

The last thing that a snowmobiler wants to hear is that it is going to be an El Nino year. Usually that means no snow and very little trail time. This year it meant that I was spending most my time clearing the snow instead of riding it. No one expected a snow load that would crush sheds, barns, garages and campers.

I also did not expect that abnormally heavy precip to continue into May. The USGS river gauge by Kosir’s started measuring rain again April 19th. We have had almost 7″ of rain since then. That is on top of a very wet fall and a really big snow winter.

All of that moisture has meant the whitewater spring season from heaven. I consider anything over about 300cfs on the Peshtigo the fun zone. At about 800cfs (about a +12″) and up it is really fun. Check out this year’s graph. The little diamonds are the typical mean flow over the past 20 years. It hasn’t been under 800cfs yet. That is very unusual.

Another thing that caught my eye is how this year’s water levels closely rose and fell with the 20 year mean. A guy might glean a little local climate guidance out of that.

Bottom line.. We are having a very wet year that is following a wet fall and heavy snow winter.

It does seem to be slowing down.

Overall it seems like the great greening up is a little behind the typical year, but it is catching up fast. Both the trillium and ferns are late.

That also applies the insect world. There wasn’t much a couple of weeks ago, but in the last week ticks, gators, and especially ants have become problematic. WOw. This is the stuff that I use around the house and yard. Defense SC. Here is a link at a good price. They have it on Amazon Prime for about 6 bucks more. It is pretty safe for our pets and us humans, it lasts a couple of months, kills every insect, and can be used inside or out. The way that I mix it a pint makes 16 gallons, so it isn’t bad on money.

One final topic.. Last week I escaped for a little while with the camera. Here are some pictures. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

LOL

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