Greetings and welcome!
It has been a dry couple of weeks since the snow melted down. We are still under very high fire danger as a result. The DNR still has all burning prohibited, but you can have a camp fire..
Due to fire weather conditions, burning is NOT allowed today. Therefore, burning in barrels, debris piles, and grass or wooded areas with your annual permit is prohibited. Campfires, though strongly discouraged, are permitted if used solely for cooking or warming purposes, but please use extreme caution.
They have been battling wildfires the past week including one that burned about 70 acres before they got it under control. I have also seen a few scorched properties where smaller fires got away. Do be careful with your fire.
Hopefully the rain expected later today and over the weekend will help that. We are expecting a line of showers later today. Saturday looks pretty nice, followed by rain Saturday night and later Sunday. Saturday looks like a decent day of around 70 degrees. Saturday night could bring rain (90%). Sunday looked ok until later in the day, but the NWS left a 50% chance in the forecast. For the most part the weekend weather will be dominated by warm air in front of a storm for Sunday night into Monday. There are also rain chances later next week.
Today marks the opening of ATV trails in Marinette County. It is unusual for them to open before the first weekend in May, but the ground is dry and firm, so they went ahead with it. Surrounding counties might not be open yet, so be aware of where you are riding and of trail opening dates.
The leaves and grass are progressing toward summer foliage. More trees are starting to bud or show leaves. It isn’t like it is in pictures that I have seen downstate where the leaves are already pretty full, but it is definitely ahead of normal. The grass is pretty greened up, but at my house does not need cutting yet. That might change after some rain.
The early melt and lack of rain has not been helpful for Spring whitewater rafting. The rivers are still a little above where they would be in Summer, but they are pretty low. Again that will change with some rain.
Moving with the changes, Kosirs Rafting started the whitewater rafting season a couple of weeks early this year on the Peshtigo River. They are continuing to do so as they open up rafting on the Menominee River next weekend. Usually that river doesn’t open until Memorial Day because spring runoff can take it past it’s max safe level of about 5,000CFS up to 20,000 and beyond. This year the river is ready to go early, and Kosir’s will be on it. Call ’em to book your trips and make reservations.
I don’t have any events listed for this weekend. That will change soon. Ads in the paper are starting to advertise early spring events and reopening of places focused on Summer activities. There are also more Help Wanted ads than I have seen in a really long time.
That is going to wrap up my update for today. I will be back next week with the latest info. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB