Greetings and welcome!
It is a cloudy and damp day today. We had a line of rain pass through the area last night that wasn’t really heavy, but it definitely rained. We are expecting more rain later today and tonight, and again Friday. The good news is that the rain is supposed to stop in time for a decent weekend.
There is a big low pressure area swirling around over TX and OK today. It is what the weather guys refer to as a ‘cut off low’, meaning that it is outside of the normal east to west flow and is sitting there almost stationary. As this storm spins around, it is throwing off pinwheel arms of rain. Our next ones should come late today and tomorrow.
Cut off lows are hard to forecast. It could move out soon, it could camp there for a few days. Right now all of my model guidance has it moving off to the northeast over the next 24 hours. The HPC has our forecast for rainfall (QPF) at .01-.025″ between now and 6am Friday, and for .05-.075″ Friday to6am Saturday. Here is the 3 day QPF map for now through 6am Sunday. The Saturday 6am to Sunday 6am field shows no rainfall for our area, so this is all expected between now and 6am Saturday.
The rain is welcome on a lot of levels, the first of which is wildfire danger. After the snow goes away and before the world turns green we have a lot of dead vegetation from last year’s growth. The Spring sun drys it quickly and fire danger rises to high or extreme. Spring is also windy, so the fires can spread very quickly.
Yesterday was a windy day with strong gusts. I stopped by a place on a computer call and they were listening to the scanner as DNR fire crews and area fire departments battled three different local blazes at the same time. One was by Perch Lake Rd, one was by Boat Landing #7, and I am stumped to name the third one at the moment.
Spring winds can come up fast and surprise you. I have had it happen a few times where I would go out to burn on a day with a light and variable breeze, and about the time that the fire really got going, the wind suddenly came up and was whipping at 15-20mph, turning my fire into a forge and shooting sparks everywhere.
Anyway, be careful with your fire until the area vegetation greens up again. This doesn’t just apply to camp fires, burning barrels, and burning leaves and brush. It also means don’t chuck lit cigs out of the car window. I have seen a few burned patches along roads from that already this week.
The rain is always welcome for the people that like our whitewater rivers. Kosir’s is opening rafting a couple of weeks early this weekend and the way that I understand it there are Saturday and Sunday trips planned.
The Peshtigo has been running big over the past week, peaking out at about +19 the first part of the week. It looks like it is at about +16 at the moment, and slowly inching down. The rain will help stop that fall and hopefully add to the fun. Call Kosir’s to make your weekend arrangements. It is a rare chance to do some pre-season rafting with spring water levels and temps in the upper 50s or low 60s.
Chris has been asking about the frogs in the pond out back. The croakers have been common for about a week, the Spring Peepers that do the high pitched vreep vreep just started about two days ago. Those are still hit and miss.
I finally got to read a little of last week’s paper. They had an extensive article in there about a recent ATV meeting. Item one was that the side by side ATVs (or LUVs) have been successful it the counties (like ours) that did pilot programs allowing them on ATV trails. Now they are taking them state-wide this year.
An idea that met with very little support was putting a 25mph speed limit on trails to increase safety. That idea failed for a lot of reasons. They discussed signing certain hazardous spots with speed limits, and that went ok as long as it didn’t get too complicated. There was discussion on making a play or intensive use area, a second ATV campground, and roads being open to ATVs. It sounded like a very positive meeting according to the article.
As long as we are on the topic of ATVs, I want to remind you of the Hidden Bear Trail ATV Club’s fundraiser Saturday at Lakewood Town Hall. They are raising money for signs for marking all of the Town of Lakewood roads for ATV use by this May. It is a huge undertaking, and signs are expensive, especially on that scale.
Don’t mistake the town of Lakewood for being right around Hwys 32 & F. Chickadee, Buck’s Ranch, and parts of Boat Landing 11 Road are all in the town of Lakewood. My house is near the Hwy C & F junction in Silver Cliff, and the Town of Lakewood starts about a mile south of my land. Opening those roads means a lot to Silver Cliff and Town of Stephenson based riders too.
There is also a benefit for the Lakewood Zoo this Saturday at the Mountain Community Center in Mountain. They became a non-profit over the winter and will need a lot of support from the community. The fun starts at 9am. There will be an auction, a silent auction, horse drawn wagon rides, kid’s games, and more.
That is news from here for today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB