2020

Friday 8-14-2020

Greetings and welcome!

It is a hot and sunny Friday today. It is 86 degrees and sunny. We have a pretty decent weekend coming up but there are some rain chances. There is a line of storms just entering the state’s far northwestern 1/3 at noon. The timing of it is pretty good where it will get to our area in the overnight hours and pretty much fade out with no heating from the sun. It will leave us with some rain chances for Saturday morning, but it should clear up and leave us a nice day in the upper 70s for Saturday. There is another small area of rain possible Sunday morning, but on my forecast models it looks pretty minor.

I always have the attitude that it is summer, and when it it is hot out (especially with some humidity) you can see an afternoon storm pop up just about any given day. I won’t change plans over it, but I won’t be shocked when it happens.

We haven’t seen rain since last Sunday, but the whitewater rafting summer of all summers continues. Right now the Peshtigo River is running at about a +6″. That is a very fun level for anyone and well above normal. The typical river flow for today is 200CFS, too low. Today it is again at record levels running at 500CFS. Sweet. That is a fun activity for a hot day.

The only even that I know of for the weekend is a flea market at the Evergreen Market in Crivitz (Just north of the Chevy dealer) today and Saturday. They will be having a food truck there selling brisket sandwiches and other yummy treats.

That is about all that I have today. Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday 8-6-2020

Greetings and welcome!

A couple of quick updates..

First up Crivitz is having a village-wide rummage sale and the businesses are having customer appreciation days this weekend. The rummage sale starts today, Thursday. You can get maps on Crivitz’s Facebook page or at Piggly Wiggly.

Item two is that this is usually the weekend of the Silver Cliff Picnic & Parade. The parade is cancelled, but there is a VFD fundraiser at the park. In addition to what the sign says a few Facebook posts said that there would be 50-50, cash, and booze raffles.

We have had only a very small amount of rain this week. Could we actually have some fire danger? I know that I am happy that the lawn finally slowed down a little.

In spite of (finally) less rainfall the whitewater rivers are still running above normal. Usually it is too rocky to raft the Peshtigo, but it continues to be at a daily record level. Right now it is about a +7 or +8, a fun level for anyone that wants to go rafting. The waterfalls would be a good visit too.

On a related note.. The Sheriff’s Dept sent out a notice that some people’s GPS’s are sending them down ATV trails. On one forest road/ trail several people ended up driving into a 4 foot deep mud hole and having a really bad day. Throw the GPS into the mud hole and stay on the named roads. The same goes for Mapquest and similar apps. There is a long history of them sending people down ATV trails, snowmobile trails, and barely passable forest roads. We live here and know the way. Follow the waterfall tour map and trust us before the GPS or Mapquest et-al.

This week we had really nice days in the 70s, and a couple of nights get down into the low 40s. In my little world that doesn’t mean that summer has been broken, but it is a heads up to get it into gear on fall/winter preparations. Last year it snowed just over 60 days from now and stayed very cold through October and into winter. Winter came 6 weeks early and stayed into May.

Along that same line, my winter prediction is for a very wild ride. Buckle up for this one. We have had wild weather and way above normal rainfall the past couple of years. Snowfall the past two years has been so heavy that it was crushing roofs, buildings, barns, and sheds. There is nothing to make me think that the rubber band will suddenly snap back this winter and give us a break.

The weather this weekend looks good Friday and Sunday. There is a small chance of rain Friday and Saturday night and  40% chance Saturday. Look for highs around 80 and lows around 60. Note that the timing of the rain was originally for Sunday, and that could change again. Keep an eye on the forecast. A passing thought.. sometimes approaching and departing storms make for spectacular sunsets.

On that note I am off to work. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 7-31-2020

Greetings and welcome!

We have at least a half nice weekend ahead. Saturday should bring nice weather with high temperatures in the low 80s. Saturday night and Sunday there is a chance of rain.

This week we again marked about 2″ of rain. Most of that came last Sunday and just a little fell Monday.

The whitewater rafting continues to be completely off the hook fantastic. The USGS gauge on the Peshtigo River has been keeping records for 22 years. Normally today the mean flow is 247cfs, almost too low to raft. The record high for today in those 22 years is 375cfs. Today it is at 885cfs. That is about a +13″ on the bridge gauge, a very fun level at any time of year. To have it happen August 1st is unheard of.

The Menominee River is also well above normal. The gauge has been there for 27 years. Today’s mean flow in those 2 years is 1,510cfs, and the max is 2,590. Today the river is running at a record high of 2,910, down from being over 5,000cfs earlier in the week.

Whatever the river, the whitewater rafting is fantastic right now. Call Kosir’s 715-757-3431.

I get that a lot of people aren’t into that kind of adventure. How about checking out some waterfalls? Those rivers are at record high levels too.

We have some live music this weekend. Saturday afternoon the Rustic Inn is having music outside. Saturday night it is at Parkway Inn with bluegrass from Denny who play with the Insomniac Gypsies. That starts at 6pm.

Next weekend would normally be the Silver Cliff picnic and parade. The parade is off, but they are still having a picnic with a drive-thru where you can get burgers and brats as a fundraiser for the VFD and rescue. I will try to nail down more details this week.

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

RJB

Friday 7-24-2020

Greetings and welcome!

We have a beautiful sunny morning this morning. It looks like a nice day ahead.

This is the first time in quite a while that I will be reporting less than an inch of rain for the week. The USGS gauge by Kosir’s is reporting 0.8″ for the past 7 days. I recall when I did rafting pictures @ Kosir’s I was always happy if we saw at least an inch of rain a week. Recently it has been 2, 3, 4″ or more for the week.

Looking at the river gauge I see that we are in for another fantastic weekend of whitewater rafting on the Peshtigo River. Right now it is running at about a +18″, much above normal. The typical flow of the river for today based of 22 years of records is about 236 cubic feet per second (CFS). I consider anything above 300 the fun zone for anyone.  The record high for today is 450CFS. Today’s flow of 1,060CFS shatters all previous records by more than 2x. While the Peshtigo River is normally getting a little rocky right now, that isn’t the case this year. Go rafting this weekend, it will be a blast. Call Kosir’s @ 715-757-3431.

We have a hot and humid weekend coming up. I am expecting highs in the upper 80s or low 90s. The NWS forecast is for some showers or storms Saturday night and a chance of more Sunday afternoon. Honestly at this time of year a hot n humid day can stir up a shower or storm just about any time. I wouldn’t change plans over it, but be ready for anything.

The only event that I know of this weekend is a brat fry Saturday from 9-2pm at the Lakewood Super-Valu store benefiting the MS Society.

That is about all that I have this morning. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB