NorthernDestinations.com

Monday May 23, 2015

Greetings and welcome!

May is always busy around here, but I can’t believe how this month flew by.

Today’s big news is that we are under a red flag warning for extreme wildfire conditions. We had a warm day with low humidity, pretty good winds, and a very dry fuel load. It would not have taken much to get a big fire going in a hurry. There have been plenty this week with 69 fires statewide.

We are very dry right now, but that will likely become less and less of a problem as the week progresses. Looking at the TV they are showing me the next 7 days being between 74 and 82, with rain possible daily. It didn’t seem very likely to have rain 7 days in a row so I took a look at my model guidance to see what the fuss was all about.

What I am seeing is a disorganized but massive area of low pressure setting up camp over the southwestern US for the next week and beyond. The counterclockwise circulation from that low pressure will be sending us warm moist air. That means warmer than normal temperatures  and rain chances daily.

The first wave of it is western WI and heading this way, and looks more like a couple of lines of isolated but strong thunderstorms than any kind of widespread soaking rain. That will probably vary from day to day.

We could use the rain as long as it doesn’t get t be too big of a part of our weekend. Right now it looks pretty good with only minimal rain chances Saturday and Sunday.

Spring is in full bloom now. We have mosquitoes and ticks, ferns opening up, tall grass where the mower didn’t go yet, and Sunday one of the resident does was spotted with a brand new fawn. I saw another doe and fawn tonight, but the fawn looked much bigger than Sunday’s. I am pretty sure that it was a different pair.

As mentioned, the ferns are starting to emerge, and are going from fiddlehead to leaf and branch. The trillium are still in bloom as are the marsh Marigolds, lilacs, and some cherry trees too. It is a fast changing world.

I am out of time for tonight, I am planning on visiting again later in the week.

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday May 10th, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

Spring continues to amaze here in Silver Cliff. The cherry trees are in bloom, and the marsh marigolds are everywhere. I actually cut some of the long grass in the front yard over the weekend, and I saw my first fern fiddle heads today. I also killed my first ( and so far only) mosquito Friday.

The weekend again found dry and windy conditions and a fire danger in the very high zone. I really wanted to have a  bonfire and BBQ grill going, but again it was just too risky.

My decision was verified when I was out in the field Saturday cutting up a tree. The field grass was crunchy and ridiculously dry, and I didn’t even like being out there with the chainsaw. It would not take much to light the whole field up.

When I looked up the fire danger Saturday there were three wildfires  within 30 miles according to the DNR site. I can take a hint. Maybe next weekend.

I heard on the radio this morning that the whole UP is under a red flag fire danger warning. That’s as bad as it gets, and we are what, 40 miles away?

We had a little rain today, but it was not enough to run off or make a puddle. We have another chance at rain about Thursday morning, and maybe even a thunderstorm could happen. I would expect less that a half inch of rain out of that one.

Behind that rain is a big cold wave just in time for the weekend. We are looking at high temps around 50 both days, and low temperatures around freezing.

I was looking at the upper air temperature maps and it would indeed be cold enough at the key levels of the atmosphere to snow if there were any precip.

I have to wrap it up, but here are a couple of event posters before I go.

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday May 3rd, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

We are getting a little bit of rain this evening. It isn’t much but it did hammer on the roof a few times. I would estimate our rainfall to be less than 1/2″, though some areas to the west ten or twenty miles saw heavier rain.

We are expecting mid-50s tomorrow, mid60s Thursday, and probably some 70s Friday. The TV says that it could get up to 80 Friday. That seems a little warm but I guess that it is possible.

This is a huge weekend around here with both fishing seasons opening and the ATV trails opening, so the weather matters for a lot of people. My guidance tells me that we are in for a pretty nice weekend. I am seeing a cold front coming through Saturday morning that should clear out and leave a decent day in the mid-60s. Sunday looks a little warmer with a slight chance of a stray shower.

The DNR has a website all about lisencing and permits called Go Wild. https://gowild.wi.gov

Instead of standing in line at Fleet Farm Friday night you can buy your tags on line and print out a fishing license immediately. I walked through it jut now and it worked well for my fishing license (Resident $20, Trout Stamp $10). You can get ATV trail passes there too.

The world is clearly greening up now and there is a lot of fresh growth. The star this week was today on the way home from work when I spotted my first marsh marigolds. That is a good sign, usually once those come out things start happening fast. This week’s rain and warm weather will play into that too. It is probably time to tune up the mower.

Road construction season started in Wausaukee this morning. They are doing a big project through Wausaukee on 141. Note that coming north into town the speed limit drops to 25 instead of 45. There was a Sherrif’s Deputy out there this afternoon reminding people that it wasn’t just a suggestion.

Right in the same neighborhood the state is doing a massive rebuild of Hwy 180 between Wausaukee and Marinette.

From http://projects.511wi.gov/

=================

WIS 180 – Marinette to Fisher Road
Schedule: May 3, 2016 to October 2016.
Length: 27.4 miles
Cost: $7,124,101.20
Location: WIS 180, Marinette to Fisher Road
Description: The work will consist of the extension of box culvert C-38-639, pulverizing and relaying of the existing asphalt roadway from WIS 64 to County Highway G, grading, placing base aggregate dense, milling of the existing roadway from County Highway G to County Highway X, placement of HMA pavement, concrete curb and gutter at intersections, culvert pipes, guardrail improvements, new signing, and pavement marking
April 25 to April 29: No work scheduled.
May 2 to May 6: Contractor will set up the traffic detour on May 3, 2016. Contractor will install temporary erosion control measures. Contractor will start grubbing operations from Marinette to County Road G.
Traffic Impacts: Starting May 3, 2016 WIS 180 traffic will be detoured. Detour WIS 180 northbound traffic at WIS 64, west on WIS 64 to US 141, north on US 141 to WIS 180. WIS 180 southbound traffic will utilize the same detour in reverse.

US 141
Schedule: May 2, 2016 to June 16, 2017.
Length: 1.23 miles
Cost: $3,999,019.84
Location: WIS 180 to north village of Wausaukee limit
Description: Work consists of reconstruction US 141 through the Village of Wausaukee. Work will also include grading, base course, curb and gutter, asphaltic surface, and sidewalk.
April 25 to April 29: Road work is to start with setup of traffic control and preliminary survey work.
May 2 to May 6: Removal of pavement and excavation work will begin in the intersections with US 141 and WIS 180/1st Street, and US 141 and Division Street. These portions will be completed first to accommodate a southbound 141 detour in later stages.
Traffic Impacts: Work to be performed under a flagging operation during daytime hours.

=====================================
That is about it for tonight. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB

Tuesday April 26th, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

The weekend was mixed for weather. Saturday was pretty nice for April, but Sunday and Monday brought plentiful rain.

My various sources showed totals in the 0.8-1.6″ range. It is hard to say what spot got how much because a lot of the rain came in small cells with heavy downpours. In one case there were thunderstorms about 4 miles south of here, and only a little rain here.

The storm was a strong one. It had a lot of energy, a lot of warm moist air, and a big contrast in temperatures and humidity between the two air masses.

I recall seeing on the TV news how our friends on either side of the WI/IL border were in the upper 70s and even 80. In Wausaukee the bank clock near work never got above 37 on Monday. It was a cold, rainy damp day. That is a big contrast to 80 degrees 200 miles away.

We are still in the cool air behind the cold front. I had 34 on the car thermometer this morning, and the TV said that Wabeno had a low of 29 last night. We got up into the mid-50s with the sun out today, about four degrees below normal.

The rain will do big things for the whitewater rivers. I just checked and the Peshtigo has crossed the 1,000cfs mark, probably about +16″. That is huge fun. The Menominee is at 5,700cfs, right on that razor’s edge between insane fun and too high.

I was up in the upper Peshtigo watershed today and I saw full swamps and swollen rivers. Boaters have some good water to look forward to for a while. The weather is supposed to be about 60 this weekend, so you should go rafting/paddling.

Last weekend was the first annual Peshtigo River Festival (aka PeshFest) at Kosir’s and the Rapids Resort. It was good to see so many people taking to the river, and especially good to see so many hard boaters. There were a lot of old friends and familiar faces, and some new folks too.

They had a couple of bands outside during the daytime and evening, and another inside at night. There was a cookout, including some really tasty smoked ribs and J-Man making BBQ chicken on the big grill/smoker.  It was a laid back good time at Kosirs. I like.

Spring has been springing in the green world since late last week. Cut lawns are greening up and more trees are getting their first leaves. The maples have their red flowers, and I saw some pussy willows along the road.

The early week rain seems to have accelerated the process, and I am seeing new growth just about everywhere. At one stop I spotted some field grass about 4″ high already. It won’t be long before I have to start cutting grass. It is my thought that any cleanup of rocks along the driveway or brush clearing that is easier before it gets overgrown should be done soon.

ATV Trails..

I was up by Hwy 8 today and got a look around at how the ground is drying out for ATV trails. Between Laona and Armstrong Creek it was pretty sloppy. It got better by Goodman and and Dunbar but it was still soft. It was my thought that if it were my call I’d wait one more weekend.

Apparently I am on the same page as the people that actually make the call. After I got home I got it on good authority that the Marinette Co ATV trails will not open this weekend, but they expect them to open April 30th.

However.. If you want to get out on the trail, Dun-Good Riders are looking for volunteers to help to get the trails back in shape. http://dungood.com.

My wildlife sightings are way up this week. The rain moved the deer and turkeys around a lot Monday. I think that the green grass by the road had the deer in ditches.Some of them ran in front of cars and got biffed, attracting the scavengers.

In one case there was a bald eagle feasting on a carcass. I saw him both going to and coming from work Monday, and pretty close up on the way home. Those are some magnificent birds.

That is about it for tonight. Have a good Wednesday and thank you for visiting!

RJB