9pm
It has rained almost all day. My planter shows 7/8″ as of 9pm and it is still coming.
According to the radar returns the rain spanked both the Peshtigo and Menominee River watersheds in a grand way. Key areas of the Peshtigo watershed saw an estimated 2-3″ of rainfall, though the Accuweather radar estimate is closer to 4-6″. That might be a little high.
Either way the result is the same, rafting will be the best that it has been so far this summer this coming week and weekend. The recent past has been amazing with all of the rain, and it has been hitting just right in the key section of the Pesh watershed.
The creeks in the upper watershed of the Peshtigo are like a series of small capillaries. When we get a lot of rain up that way, the river takes 2-3 days to come up, and it stays there for a few (2-5) days. We are seeing the rise from the Saturday storm yesterday and today, and the rain today is adding to that. The last three storms really bulls eyed the upper reaches of the watershed.
The last four weeks of low water really humbled the Peshtigo, and right in prime season when a lot of people come rafting. For it to turn around this fast is pretty amazing.
We will have some wild times on the rivers this weekend. A rising river is always extra fun, and they will be rising with some gusto from the rain that is already down. With the prospect of more rain tomorrow and another inch or two Friday, I am pumped up like a 6 year old on his third Red Bull.
RJB
Early afternoon
Greetings and welcome!
There is the sweet sound of rain on the roof this afternoon.
The forecast changed a little since yesterday, and the rain came earlier and stronger than predicted. We could see 0.5-1.0″ of rain today. It is hitting the Peshtigo and Menominee River watersheds very nicely with wave after wave of yellow and orange on the radar. There is also a chance of more rain tomorrow, mostly north of Green Bay and in the UP.
It is a little early to call, but I would expect the whitewater rafting to be making a huge comeback this weekend. Both rivers are up already from past rains, and if you look at the HPC QPF for the week, we are looking at 2″ of rain for the week by Saturday morning, and it could go up, the next higher band is close. If we have 2″ of rain this week, those rivers will come up big and offer great rafting this weekend, possibly the best of 2010 so far.
The weekend storm looks to be on track. Friday and Early Saturday morning should be wet, but Saturday should only bring a minor chance of rain(QPF=<0.1″/6 hours). Sunday brings a better chance of rain and again a chance of measurable precip. That is what the models show today anyway. Between a decent weekend possible and 2″ of rain between now and then, I am pretty excited about it.
See yesterday’s update for more.
RJB
Menominee is already up 1 1/2 feet. Last week was the lowest ever in 80 years the D N R said. I think I believe them this time.
I too agree with them. I am calling this a 100 year drought based on the Twin Falls Dam by Iron Mountain where we have been setting all time records on a gauge 96 years old for much of the summer. Apparently 1958 was bad (previous record lows), but we were worse in 2010.
It is great to see it come back up so much, and there is more coming both when the rain from yesterday gets to the river and then more rain this week.