Greetings and welcome!
Wow what a nice day!
It is 73 in Athelstane and 72 in Crivitz as I sit down to type this out Wednesday night at 5:30pm. We had a high of 79 today and even the wind couldn’t make it feel chilly. Most of our warmer days this spring have been knocked down when a cold breeze would come and put a chill on an otherwise nice day in the 60s. Not today.
The world is finally starting to really green up. By my estimation we are at least a week behind the typical year for the green explosion to really take hold. Surprisingly you can still see a good 50-100 feet into the woods. The underbrush and slower hardwoods are just starting to get leaves. The popples are coming along with their leaves, but they are the early ones. The cherry tree on the west side of the yard is nicely in bloom today, and I spotted some marsh marigolds yesterday. While we are behind what I consider typical, I think that we are to the point where a guy can spot significant new growth daily.
The insect world has awakened, but so far it isn’t bad. I haven’t had a mosquitoe bite yet. When I was working on the car out in the driveway last weekend I got to know a dozen wood ticks or so, but that area is a hotbed for them every year. There were a few gnats too, but again very few. Like the greening of the land, that can change fast, but I am enjoying it while I can.
It is time to cut the grass, but it isn’t out of control yet.
We had some significant rain Monday night into Tuesday morning. The USGS river gauge by Kosir’s measured 0.8″. That seemed a little understated.
The Peshtigo River is going up as a result of the rain, and it looks great for whitewater rafting and paddling this weekend. Right now it is at about +12 and rising. I am predicting +9-10″ for Saturday morning and only a little less for Sunday. That is a good level where you can take a raft or funyak, and it is a very fun river.
The Menominee River looks big right now. It is running in the 5-6,00cfs range. Between 4-5,000 that river gets pretty big for the kind of rafting that they do , and they don’t run it much above that. I expect it to settle down into a happy range for the weekend, but I’d also expect top notch water levels of 3,500 plus. That river will be a great run this weekend.
We are looking at a really nice late week and weekend for weather. High pressure will bring bluebird days in the 70s. The first chance of rain comes Sunday night and there is a better chance Monday.
In events I have the Lakewood Loiness Faire, the Post 66 Picnic and Memorial Service at the Silver Cliff picnic grounds, and an auction in Crooked Lake at the Sportsman’s Club. I will work on the list and try to get more events and details.
Well there are two hours of daylight left, not many bugs, and it is 70 degrees out. Time to head outside. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB