NorthernDestinations.com

Thursday April 7th, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

The snow Tuesday night ended up being 3-4″ of fairly wet snow. The sun ate about half of it Wednesday. The snow was off and on Wednesday, including a squall with silver dollar sized flakes coming fast. It didn’t add up to much on the roads, but some probably accumulated on snow covered areas.

Wednesday night we had a little rain snow mix that added up to a crusty half inch or so. It was enough to glaze roads and make the ride to work Thursday an icy one.

As of Thursday night there is a sturdy inch or so of crusty snow in the yard. There is a bare spot in the driveway where it is sunny, but most of the ground is covered.

We have had a few nights in the teens this week and the ground is again frozen, at least on the top.

Tonight we could see an inch or so accumulate by dawn, and a total of 2-5 by tomorrow night.

Follow that up with teens for lows Friday night and low 30s for high temperatures Saturday, Sunday another storm brings a chance of rain or snow.

Winter is not giving up.

Looking ahead I am still seeing a big warming trend coming in about a week. We are ready.

That’s news for tonight.

RJB

Tuesday April 5th, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

Winter is hanging on in Silver Cliff. As of 8:30pm we are heading toward the 2″ mark, and it is snowing heavily. The forecast is for 3-5, and it looks like we will be in the higher amounts based on the radar.

It has been seasonably cold, and sometimes, like last night, in the mid-teens. I have been wanting to turn off the heater in the well house, but it just isn’t time yet.

People are anxious to put the snow and cold behind them, but that isn’t looking good. I looked ahead on the GFS forecast model, and I don’t see any big warm-ups for a while.

Reports have some lakes open.  I have not seen the flowage yet to see if the bigger bays are open.

The thawing has certainly slowed down. The really sheltered spot in the road that was soft a few days ago is frozen up again.

There is another smaller storm expected for late week. That could bring a little snow, as well as cold temperatures for the weekend. The NWS has us for mid-teens Friday night and low 30s Saturday.

RJB

Thursday March 31, 2016

Greetings and welcome!

Here we are a week later, in the final rigors of another strong storm that tracked perfectly to give us heavy snow. We dodged the bullet on this one so far, but the last few waves are bringing snow. About 20 miles west they had white ground today.

Last Thursday’s storm ended up being the biggest of the past two winters by my recollection. I am not sure about three years ago.

As happens behind big storms, we had some cold weather. It wasn’t too far below normal, but after the stretch of warm weather it seemed cold. Three weeks ago tomorrow the bank clock in Wausaukee said 67. Today’s high might have hit 40, and normal is about 42-45.

The sun is getting pretty strong now, and even with the cooler weather, the snow got eaten pretty quickly.

Today’s rain just about finished the snow off. There were only a few splotches here and there where the sun couldn’t reach it when I was driving home from work.

A lot of us snowmobilers lamented that it didn’t come sometime over the course of the winter, and it would have been particularly helpful three or four weeks ago before the trails melted and the frost came out of the ground.

Before the big storm a lot of the frost came out of the ground in sunny and open areas. Those areas are still firm, but a little muddy from the rain and snow.

Some more sheltered areas still held snow or didn’t thaw quite as much when it was warm, and the frost is slowly coming out there. Those areas are still pretty soft.

I have been looking for the first green, but it isn’t there yet. The most green that I saw today was some winter wheat down by Crivitz. It is normal to start seeing the first green in April, but May really is the beginning of the big green-up, so it is a little early.

There was a fitful little snow and wind squall that came through town about 1pm today. It rained and snowed hard, along with some gusty winds. It was over pretty fast so there was no accumulation.

There is another pair of clippers coming for Saturday and Sunday. When I looked today Saturday’s looked like it would hit more in Central WI. Sunday’s clipper was a little farther north and could bring us 1-3″ of snow.

This weekend is the Town of Stephenson VFD benefit ar The Woods. It is a chicken dinner buffet and free tap beer for $10.

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

RJB

Thursday March 24th, 2016

Winter Storm Warning

Greetings!

10:30am

The snow has stopped now and some wind is kicking up. I got about another 1 1/2″ while I was clearing the top driveway. The front steps were clear when I started and needed shoveling again a couple of hours later.

My little snowblower was not happy about taking foot deep snow all at once. In order to not break the belt and end up shoveling I had to take about 6″ swaths per pass. It took a couple of hours to do the top driveway, around the cars, and in front of the work shed.

As I finished up I couldn’t help thinking that the three quarts of premium that I just burned could quite possibly be the best $2 that I had ever spent.

After my lunch break I will fire up the plow truck and go after the private road. That won’t be pretty with the frost out of the ground and a lot of snow. As one guy at work phrased it yesterday, I will probably end up doing some landscaping as the plow rolls up sod and gravel.

Here is a winter classic look.. the snow-hawk.

8:30am

It started snowing heavily again and I was getting pretty wet so I took a break from digging out to get a few pictures. My official tally is 11-12″ but it is still snowing at a good clip. There isn’t much question that I will cross the foot mark. Click the image to get a bigger version.

Yes Sqib, a fellow could certainly find some back roads to play on with the snowmobile. I just wish that it was Feb 24 instead of March 24th!

7am

It is still snowing here. When I went out a little while ago I measured 11-12″, and the radar shows a couple of pretty good waves still heading this way.