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