November 2022

Wednesday 11-23-2022

Greetings and welcome!

The below normal temperatures have finally moved off to the east and we are having some more desirable days. Our high temperature is normally about 40. We are right there today and might even go a little above.

The cold weather has done a good job of putting a lid on the lakes. Many of them have first ice all of the way across. You could probably walk out a little in the bays. Our daytime temperatures might not be great for making ice but our overnight temperatures have been ideal. Last night we got down to 12 degrees.

Last weekend’s weather was absolutely brutal for deer hunters. Temperatures barely got into the 20s, and there were some wicked winds. I didn’t even want to go outside let alone sit in a tree stand for hours.

The weather forecast for this weekend is a lot nicer. Saturday they are predicting a high of 45 and Sunday a high of 36.

I found more places to do Thanksgiving dinner, and they are free. (Free!?!) The first is at the bar just east of Athelstane at Hwy V & C. They are having a buffet at no charge, but they are accepting donations that will be given to local food pantries. The next one is at Parkway Inn where they will be doing a pot luck, plus the dinner that they provide. The other free Thanksgiving dinner is at Thermal Chaos up on Hwy 8. I don’t have a lot of details on that one.

Read my previous posts for more Thanksgiving dinner options.

Marinette Co passed an ordinance recently that opened up a lot of county highways to ATVs starting next May. In the meantime they are closing down the county highways to ATVs over the winter starting December 1st.

Not all county highways will be open to the ‘wheelers. Check with your local club to see what is and isn’t open.

That is it from here. I am off to go and do outside stuff while it is a nicer day. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday 11-17-2022

Greetings and welcome!

We have a little light snow falling this morning, and so far it has made it up to 27 degrees.

The snow that came Tuesday and Wednesday has stayed in place for the most part. It was very close to freezing when it fell so a lot of it stuck to the trees. It is a pretty winter scene anywhere you look.

The snow melted off of most roads and paved driveways. The exception is the gravel roads & driveways. Those still hold snow. The other place that the snow stuck around is shaded parts of the roads. Behind big pine stands or heavy woods the roads either are icy or snow covered. When it happens in corners on side roads it can bring some big eyes as you drift through the corner without turning. Stay alert for icy side roads.

The snow on the ground is not as deep as it is on cold spots like the deck railing, but there is still 2-3″, and more in some places. There will be snow on the ground for this weekend.

Here are some snow totals from TV channel 5 out of Green Bay. I would call our total here 4″.

There is a cold front coming through Friday and Friday night that will bring very cold temperatures for the weekend. Not only are we looking at single digit overnight temperatures and highs in the low 20s, there will be some wind. Be ready for the coldest opening weekend in probably 10 years or more.

Here is a wind chill chart. https://www.weather.gov/ama/WindChill

I have another Thanksgiving event..

I’m not sure who is sponsoring it but I like the price.

I read yesterday that some lakes are starting to skin over with ice. That will progress a lot this weekend, but I wouldn’t bring the ice fishing shanty just yet.

If you haven’t winterized yet this weekend is when it goes critical. With high temps in the low 20s and single digit low temps coming stuff will freeze.

That’s it for now. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB

11-15-2020 Our First Real Snow- And Winter Storm Warnings!?!

8:30pm

Greetings and welcome!

We have our first real snow of the season on the ground and actively falling. We are indeed under a winter storm warning.

I woke up to about an inch down this morning. It accumulated on cold surfaces like the car and porch railings. As far as the roads there was a little slushy accumulation where the trees shaded the road from the sun. For the most part the roads were just wet.

That held true as I came home from Lakewood at about 3:30, but it looked like it was just starting to accumulate in non-shady spots.

I checked the weather a little while ago and was surprised by the winter storm warning. We were only expecting an inch or two. There is a particularly heavy band of snow coming off of Lake Michigan and Green Bay that is reaching from about Green Bay up to roughly Hwy W and Crivitz. The winter storm warning said that they could see 4-6. From the looks of the radar the stretch of highway between Green Bay and Crivitz is probably getting ugly.

I have probably 4″ or so on my deck railing, but much less accumulated on the driveway and grass. The ground is just starting to freeze. Between that and the 34 degree day less snow accumulated on the ground than on the porch railing.

Edit-Added at 9:20pm

As I mentioned, the ground is just starting to freeze. I saw in Townsend where someone had plowed last night’s snow and the got some gravel. The ground was definitely not frozen. Likewise when I went by Waubee Lake it was wide open. The cold is coming hard and fast, but it is just getting started. There is very minimal frost in the ground.

The weekend forecast looks cold. Look for highs in the upper teens to mid 20s and low temperatures in the singe digits. That will make some ice.

I am going to get a head start on the weekend and next week.

Thanksgiving buffets are available at Rapids Resort, Jungle Jim’s, Hilltop, and Nimrod Inn. There is also a carry-out Thanksgiving dinner with the Twin Bridge Rescue squad.

The Firelane Bar opened back up today. They had an electrical fire early this summer and have been rebuilding. Their efforts looked pretty nice. At any rate they will be open this week and for deer hunting.

That’s it for now. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Wednesday November 9th, 2022- Freeze Warning

Greetings and welcome!

We had a line of thunderstorms come through this morning that had some heavy rain and really close and very active lightning. That gave way to a partly cloudy 55 degree day. Tomorrow we are expecting more rain and a possible high of 65 degrees.

Then the bottom falls out.

Behind the Thursday/Thursday night storm is a big push of cold air from Canada that is shown lasting at least to the end of the 16 day GFS forecast model outlook. For the weekend we are looking at high temperatures around 32 and low temperatures in the upper teens.

That cold air will likely bring some lake effect snow to the U.P. Around here I am more concerned with freezing plumbing.

Over the years I have been able to avoid turning on the heat in the well house as long as the daytime high temperature gets into the mid-40s and the overnight temperature doesn’t go below about 20. Most years I can skate by until about Thanksgiving.  Not this year. We are going to remain below both of those values starting on Saturday.

We will also see the ground start to freeze, and eventually the lakes.

We have been having a nice warm fall, and recently we have had near record high temperatures. I have been warning my friends not to get used to it, when the cold comes it will be like driving off of a cliff. Here we are.

I have a few overlooked things to winterize, so I am off to work on that before I am doing it in freezing temperatures.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB