Note- This is my last update here until late winter-early spring. Follow me over to the BigSnowPage where I do all of the same weather and events but with snowmobile trail info too. https://bigsnowpage.com .
Greetings and welcome!
Morning update- We had another dusting of snow overnight. Wabeno hit zero last night. At noon the TV says that Wabeno is at 10 degrees with a 3 degree wind chill. Athelstane weather says that we are up to 18 degrees with an 11 degree wind chill.
9:45pm Monday night
It is the heart of the cold that is chilling my bones tonight. Looking at the TV weather channel 2-2 out of Green Bay they show Wabeno down to 4 degrees. Other area stations are a little better with readings or 7,9,10, and farther south 15 degrees. Our morning low is expected to be 2, with a -15 or -18 wind chill.
On the other end of it we saw low 20s for a high temperature today, and there was some wind. Several stations on TV never made it to 20 today.
Tomorrow looks like a reprint of today.. lucky if we hit 20 for a high temperature and low temperatures overnight close to zero (2F).
Our normal high today should be in the low to mid-40s and our typical low temp is about 25. That puts us solidly 20 degrees below normal, and for some people 25 degrees.
Ray’s law of variability says that a 15 degree divergence from normal temperatures is common, 20 degrees abnormal but not all that unusual, 25 unusual, and 30 degrees very unusual.
Winter is here, and it is here to stay. I expect to see a little break in the arctic flow next week, but that also comes with a couple of possible big storms (11-22 and 11-27).
This Wednesday a little snow (1-3 or 2-4”) will mark an end of high temperatures of about 20 and bring some low to mid-30s. Saturday and Sunday we could get close to 40 with a little snow. Next week we could get into the mid-40s briefly.
Here is a picture of the ice lilies and ice chunks coming down the Peshtigo River By Rapids Resort Monday at about noon.
This one is a picture of Caldron Falls Flowage from Echo Point about ½ mile upstream of Landing 11. It was frozen across as far as I could see and up the river too.
This one is at Boat Landing 11. I would have liked to walk out a little with a spud bar and ropes, but I was alone with no equipment and on the way to work. I could have easily walked more than a few feet off of the landing.
On the way to Crooked Lake Boundary Lake on the Oconto/Marinette Co line at Hwy W was frozen across except for a very small open area in the middle.
The ground is well frozen. I don’t mind that for the snowmobiling season as long as we don’t get too much of a good thing. A couple of feet helps firm up swamps and hold the snow. Too much isn’t good though. One year we had 6-8 feet of frost that froze septic tanks and incoming well pipes. That was a bitter cold snowless winter.
Looking at the TV I see that the central UP is getting some lake effect snow.
Apparently the dusting of snow that we had a couple of mornings ago stuck to the roads a little. I found a snow and ice covered spot in the forest that was heavily shaded by the pines. Yes it was pretty slippery there. I also saw where they salted Hwy A between Crivitz and Athelstane. There is another sign that winter is here.`
A lot of people really got caught unprepared for winter to start in late October. I am one of them. I Have stuff that is frozen that shouldn’t be, my cars are not ready, I am about ¼ of the way done with firewood, my Reddy heater, snowmobiles, and snowblower are in need of repair, and the list continues on for a while. Normally I would have 2-3 more weeks to wrap that stuff up.
I am not alone. People are finding out about cars that won’t start, vulnerable plumbing, and winterizing that needs to be done. It is an unusual fall and a lot of us got caught by it. The official start to winter is still almost 40 days away.
Gun deer season is a little late this year, running from Saturday 11-23 until Sunday December 1st.
There is a deer hunter’s bake sale Thursday Nov 21 at Firelane Bar from 3-6:30pm. The one at Jungle Jim’s is Friday Nov 22 from 9am-3pm.
That’s news for today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB