Wednesday June 16th, 2010

Paddler’s Alert- Heavy rain yesterday will bring the Peshtigo River to above normal levels for the weekend, and the Menominee River too..

The rain yesterday was very generous. We saw a lot here, but nothing like the northern and western Peshtigo River watershed saw. They had productive rain all day, and enough to clearly lift the river for late week and the weekend. At the end of the storm this big blob of yellow, orange, and red on the radar camped right over the watershed for a couple of hours. WOW.

The Menominee River watershed was in play as well, and they saw at least an inch of rain, and more likely two.

If you are even remotely interested in whitewater rafting/paddling, clear the calendar for the weekend and call Kosir’s. There is already enough rain down to make the river(s) great this weekend, and more rain is on tap for Thursday and Friday.

The weekend looks warm with temps in the 80s and a minor (30%) chance of rain Sunday.

—

Ok, Im back..

Here is a bad screen shot of the radar returns this morning along with a rough outline of the Peshtigo River watershed.

It is hard to make out, but the yellow is 1.5-2″ of rain and the orange is 2-3″. Those same returns showed us in the half inch band, and no way. The USGS gauge at Kosir’s showed about 2/3″ and that is usually half of my bucket.

Let’s settle out of court for we saw a lot of rain, and the far reaches of the Peshtigo River watershed saw a lot of heavy rain. That will bring the river up in 2-3 days and keep it there for 3-5. That is perfectly timed for the weekend.

Thursday night to Friday there are thunderstorms expected that will give it a last minute boost. Those are forecast to clear out in time for Saturday morning. Sunday there is a minor chance of showers (30%) as the next storm approaches.

At this point since it is hard to quantify the rainfall beyond heavy, it is hard to pin down a number.  I am very comfortable with predicting a +6″ or better for Saturday’s noon Peshtigo River rafting trip with Kosir’s, and probably more.

Likewise the Menominee River watershed saw some action yesterday. The gauge up there shows an inch, and I know from watching the radar that their watershed definitely saw some rain. That river too will be prime for the weekend.

The storm didn’t look like much on the models, and I was looking at the prospect of the rivers falling from last weekend’s levels. That is not going to happen. This weekend should be even better than last weekend.

Chris made mention that people would want to know that if the water comes up as I expect it to that they will be running rafts as well as the funyaks on the river. I leave those decisions up to Kosir’s, but usually above about +4″ you can do a raft. We are probably at +5 now and it will rise before the weekend.

The whitewater stretches are not the only places that benefitted from the rain. I checked a few trout streams yesterday and they are running good. Likewise my drive-by observation of Waubee Lake levels saw that it was significantly recovered. It isn’t back to normal, but it is clearly up.

I did come up with a few more events. I will keep working on it. In addition to the list in yesterday’s report..

There is a car show at Lakewood Pavillion

The Crandon Racetrack is having a fan appreciation weekend

The Dark Horse Band will be at the Lakeside Bar on Newton Lake this weekend.

Well, today looks like one of two nice days this week so I am off to go and play outside. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB