Greetings and welcome!
The cold front finally came through yesterday and put an end to the heat and humidity. Yesterday it gave north central WI 1-3 inches of rain in places, and similar totals across the Fox Valley. It was hit and miss with areas only a few miles apart seeing very different totals.
That was our story here. The storms along the front died down overnight as the front advanced our way. They started back up again pretty much right here. For at least an hour yesterday we had rumbles of thunder, but the rain was only enough to make dust droplets on the truck.
The storm grew quickly as it moved east. A friend said that it was pouring in Crivitz hard enough to make the parking lot fill with water. The radar returns showed about 0.66″ in Pembine, and 0.88″ in Mountain, but 0.1″ here.
There have been a lot of news reports this week about the drought in Northern WI. The Milwaukee fishwrap had an article, the Green Bay TV 2 news did a piece this morning, and the DNR has an article about it as well.
I thought we had it bad here.. The articles said that the Rainbow Flowage in Oneida County was down 13 feet, and Deep Lake in Washburn County is down 15 feet. There was a picture on the DNR site of a dock 50-75′ up a hill from the waterline.
Contrast that with Waubee Lake that is maybe 3′ off, and our rivers are running at about normal recent August low levels.
Flowages like Caldron Falls and High Falls are not affected from our perspective. The dams have strictly controlled water levels that they must maintain. They are not down at all. WPS isn’t making much power or letting much through the dams, but the lakes remain full.
I checked fire danger today and we are at moderate. Much of the area saw rain. Today’s low relative humidity behind the front is of some concern, but we are not a tinder box. They actually are allowing burning today.
The next item up for bids is the weekend weather. So far that looks to be on track with earlier forecasts.
We will see high pressure dominate the weather through Sunday. It is expected to be warm with increasing temps as the time passes. An approaching storm will push warm and probably humid air north into our region as it approached from the west. The influence of that should be mostly felt on Sunday. The forecast has the cold front coming through Sunday night and early Monday morning with a chance of rain and storms. They do not look that strong on the models.
As far as temperatures I would generalize a little and estimate upper 70s and into the 80s Saturday, and a little hotter day in the mid-80s Sunday. Monday should drop back to the upper 70s if it clears out quickly.
I am always a little suspicious of bluebird weekend forecasts, and this one is no different. The models and sources agree on what I have above. I am not sure that I do.
Here are the events that I know about for this weekend..
May 29 Rustic Inn
Silver Cliff Rummage Sale
In the Yard and Pavilion
Buy or Sell from 7 AM to 12 Noon
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May 29 Town of Stephenson
Parade starts on Archer Lane off Boat Landing #3 Rd 9th Annual Picnic & Parade
sponsored by the Town of Stephenson Fire Dept. and Twin Bridge Rescue Squad Parade at 11am – Picnic to follow at the Stephenson Town Hall on County X
Food & Drink, Games & Raffles, Live Music
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May 29 Townsend Town Hall 9th Annual Townsend Stars & Stripes Celebration
7pm to 11:30pm Refreshments, Raffles, Games & Prizes, Live Music
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May 29 Wabeno Fire & Rescue Grounds 2nd Annual Wabeno Fire & Rescue Fund raiser
Open House – Pig Roast – Classic Car Show – Raffles – Live Music
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May 30 Silver Cliff Memorial Park
& Picnic Grounds Annual Memorial Day Picnic
Ceremony at 10am, picnic to follow – Food, Drink, Games, Raffles
Sponsored by American Legion Post 66 & Auxiliary
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May 30 Downtown Mountain Mountain Memorial Weekend Parade
Starts at Noon – Life music, food, refreshments and raffles to follow
Sponsored by the Mountain Area Business Assoc.
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May 30 Lakewood Town Hall & Activity Grounds McCaslin Lioness 11th Annual Family Faire
10am – 3pm Raffles & Prizes – Silent Auction – Children’s games
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Sunday May 30th- Memorial Day Parade Through Wausauke @ 11am followed by the Wausaukee VFD Truck & Garden Tractor Pull 12pm at the fairgrounds $5 entry $2 beer and food
The travel should be fairly painless. The WIDOT site says that they closed down most construction sites for the weekend. There are exceptions. Here is a link to the page where you can plan your route around those spots.
They also furloughed the DMV workers Friday for budget reasons, so the DMV will be closed. That was well timed.
In a related note, they have been hammering ads on the local TV stations that WI will be on a “Click it or ticket” seat belt law enforcement push this weekend. You will want to be aware of that and generally drive safely as they will be watchful as with any holiday weekend.
Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB