Red Flag warning today
Greetings and welcome!
It has been an interesting week and weekend. Over the weekend the action on the river was hot, but the weather wasn’t. Sunday night we got down to 21 degrees, and the weekend didn’t get much above 50. As is typical in WI in spring, three days later we are looking at mid-70s.
Spring is moving right along. The trees are getting buds and leaves. The choke cherries, pussy willows, marsh marigolds, and now the first dandelions are in bloom. The grass is green in the yard, and the big fields are coming along too. You can still see into the woods, but not for long. The underbrush is growing in too. It is a time of year with many changes noticeable pretty much daily. When it rains next week I expect the growth to be incredible.
We haven’t had much rain in the past few weeks. According to the morning news, Marinette County is now under a red flag warning along with most of the UP. A red flag warning means no outside burning at all because fire danger risk is very high.
Usually a red flag warning comes with a low humidity and warm temperature scenario, along with dry fuel and some wind to spread the fire quickly. At that point you will want to wait on burning any brush or using the burning barrel. Things like fireworks and tossing lit cigs out of the car window are a no-no for sure.
We actually have some haze in the air this morning from a big wildfire in NW WI. The fire in Douglas Co was 6 miles wide and a mile across as of yesterday and they were evacuating a lot of people potentially in its path. They have 6 airplanes on it, plus heavy equipment, and it is still out of control. So far it is over 3,500 acres, and is putting up a smoke plume visible for miles.
It was a pretty windy day yesterday, and it had to have that fire burning like a forge. That area also saw a big wind storm last July that leveled a lot of forest that will make it harder to access the fire and offer a lot of dead trees to burn.
A guy would be in a world of hurt if he started something like that illegally burning brush or a burning barrel. You are liable for your fire, and it could be in the millions. Ouch. Not a good weekend, right?
It is pretty common for us to have high fire danger between when the snow goes away and the land greens up. The dead brush and grass from last year gets nice and dry from the spring sun, and is prime tinder to get a wildfire going.
We are not expecting any significant rain this week or weekend, so fire danger will be high over the weekend.
Last Tuesday I wrote about how I had only had two wood ticks on me over the weekend. That crashed and burned in grand fashion later last week. Tuesday night I found about 10 from walking between the back step and the grill a few times. Wednesday I did yard work all day and found plenty. Only one stuck.
Based on that experience I won’t go into great detail on how I remain mosquito bite free to date, but I will suggest that it is time to start bringing Repel with the outdoor gear..
When I was out in the work shed last week the hornets were already scouting nesting sites. They like the eaves of the shed and were on it. I have found in the past that a strategically applied dose of wasp/bee/hornet killer to those eaves ahead of time will keep them away all season.
The weather was cold last weekend, but the whitewater rafting was fantastic. The river is still above normal, and people were taking both rafts and the funyaks. Plenty of people got munched by the fast moving river, and people had a great time. This weekend the river will be little lower, but still above normal. I am guessing it for about +9 or 10″ for the weekend. Having it around 70 instead of around 50 will be a little nicer.
This is the weekend that spring rafting ($45) becomes summer rafting ($25) at Kosir’s. It brings a chance to catch high water at summer prices, so it should be a popular weekend.
If you aren’t into the whitewater, no big deal. Kosir’s has really expanded their offerings. They have lazy river tubing, they offer sit on top kayaks (anyone easily can use these), and canoes that people can rent and go tour Caldron Falls Flowage, and now they are working on setting up pontoon boat tours. Here is a link to the tubing and kayaking page. I will have to get on one about the newer offerings.
People visiting the area this weekend will want to be on top of driving sober or having a designated driver. Rumor has the OWI task force is targeting Twin Bridge and Crivitz again this weekend. With them targeting the area on most of the busy weekends in recent memory, some area bars and restaurants have responded by making arrangements to offer sober rides. For a nominal fee you can get a round trip and leave the truck at home. Call your favorite places, chances are that they can help.
I have mentioned that the weekend ahead should be in the 70s and we aren’t expecting rain. The NWS has us for 66 Friday, 69 Saturday and 73 Sunday. They mention a chance of a shower or storm Friday night and Saturday night into Sunday.
The morning news had Green Bay in the upper 70s over the weekend with a very slight chance of a shower. The GFS is showing me a weekend a little above normal for temps. There is some precip in the region, but not affecting us at all on the QPF maps. There is a storm showing up to the west and south but the GFS has it staying there until Monday and Tuesday. Right now it looks like a nice weekend.
It looks pretty nice out right now (67 and sunny) and I have plenty of outside work to do, so I am going to go and dive into the day. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB