10:30am-
Greetings and welcome!
I walked around the yard a little to see how much snow that we had. The least that I measured was 3.5″, and the most was 5.5″. I’d call it a general 4-5″.
The snow is very wet and heavy. It will make an excellent snowball or snowman, but won’t be much fun to plow or snowblow.
It looks like they got more north of here by Hwy 8. The morning news said that Goodman closed schools, Pembine and Wabeno started 2 hours later than normal.
The rain before the snow didn’t get too far, and I could see it staining my footprints that I had made 10 minutes earlier.
There is a little more possible. There is a little making its way north into the area on radar, and the back of the storm hasn’t come this way yet. Another inch or two is possible.
The TV weather channel 2-2 out of green Bay just showed a graphic with 5.5 in Rhinelander, 5 in Lakewood, and 3.5 in Crivitz.
Here are some pictures..
I haven’t gotten far enough to see what this will end up doing for the trails, how much water will soak into it, how much standing water there is, and so on.
RJB
12:36 am- Storm Watch-
It is snowing like crazy out there now. It has to be over an inch an hour, and probably closer to 2″/hr. They are big heavy flakes making packing snow in a hurry. The back step is past the 3″ mark and headed for 4″ quickly.
I will be working on my regular update in a little while.
RJB
Regular update-
Greetings and welcome!
We have a storm under way this morning. The path of the storm was a bull’s eye on where we need the low pressure area to cross into WI, and it is snowing pretty good.
The original forecasts yesterday had us in the high range of the 5-9 predicted. The NWS scaled that back to 4-7″, and added some freezing drizzle wording for tonight and tomorrow. The TV weather channel 2-2 out of Green Bay is still showing Lakewood in at almost 8″ and Pembine close to 9″.
There is a big dry slot opening up in the center of the storm, and that should be here in an hour or two. There is still the back of the storm to go, bringing another inch or three for a finish later today.
Last weekend was a fun one for what it was. Riders that got out early had a chance to cover some ground Saturday. A few even stuck it out and rode in the rain later. Here are some pictures from Saturday. Thank you to everyone that visited!
The ugly mug in the bottom picture is yours truly, along with Kelly from Rapids Resort toasting what was one fantastic season. We are both really appreciative of all of your support and we had a great time meeting everyone this year.
I have been getting a lot of thank yous and good byes in the e-mail and comments. Thank you all very much for your support, encouragement, and generous donations. I really had a great season, and you all made it possible. Thank you very much!
In the Fall I predicted a really spectacular winter. I think that I got lucky on that one. I expected a big ice base, but I was also expecting a few more big storms. As it turned out the rain on the snow making a spectacular ice base, along with a fabulous job by the groomers made the trails the best that they have been in many years. I heard that comment many times from riders that I met, and I rode it too. It really was a great season for trails.
The RXL fell by the wayside, but it isn’t a big job to fix. My guess is that the high mileage engine gave up a piston skirt on the recoil side. At last count I had 19 good cylinders in stock for that one, so it is a matter of putting in some new pistons and a few gaskets. I can fix the one, but the others aren’t far behind, so I’ll do the whole top end.
I really love the 94 Indy Trail that I added to the stable this year. It is light, reliable, pretty zippy, and it sips gas compared to the triples. It doesn’t have the arm stretch of the triples, but it is a fun little ride.
I also want to thank everyone for their donations. I have had some very generous benefactors, and they put me in the saddle a lot more than if I did this on my own. My gratitude is difficult to put into words. I had a great season because of you guys, and I can’t thank you enough. Thank you thank you thank you!
Now, I am not finished riding, or updating here for the season. I am actually pretty hopeful that we will be able to ride this weekend with only a couple of sunburned spots marring otherwise nice trails.
When I went to Lakewood yesterday The trails along F between Silver Cliff and Lakewood, and along 32 north to Carter all looked like they took the rain well. There was an icy base with a slushy frosting. There were two spots getting close to opening up by Waubee Lake along the ditch line, one sunny spot in Townsend, some dark stuff where the NST crosses 32 north of Townsend, and three or four snowmobile sized bare spots between Townsend and Vally Inn. Other than that, the trails held full coverage, and with tonight’s snow, should be in nice shape this week.
This week we are expecting highs of about 32, lows in the upper teens or low 20s, and only a couple of sunny days Wednesday and Thursday. The GFS is showing a little snow Thursday night as warm air moves into the area. Before the warm stuff gets settled a clipper comes out of the north for Friday night into Saturday morning with 1-3 or 2-4 and colder weather ( mid-20s to low 30s) for Saturday and Sunday.
IF (Big IF) it plays out as shown, we will have another good weekend on the trails. If not, the super base will still be there in most areas.
Behind next weekend the view gets a little darker, with rain, 40s and 50s, and more of the above. It is a long term forecast, but it doesn’t look good for the 23rd & 24th. One friend that puts on a lot of miles figures that there will be places to get a ride in right to the end of the month by hitting secluded areas and points north. There is a heck of a base here and even more north of here.
As of 1:45am it is still snowing pretty good, though the flakes are smaller. I’d out the bacck step total at about 4″.
To those of you wrapping up the season, thank you very much for your support and friendship. You are appreciated more than you know. Thank you very much!
For the rest of you, I will be back in the morning with updated snow totals. Have a good night and thank you for visiting!
RJB
One last item tonight, another stolen snowmobile.. this was on FaceBook, and I’ll try to extend the reach..
A regular customer of mine (Ed note- At Soup to Nuts in Crivitz), Dean Gordon (hookedup@itol.com), asked me to post this for him. It would be great if all of you share it with your friends. As you can see from his post this person is a menace to the Crivitz area.
Last Friday night I had my sled stolen from the Pines in Crooked Lake and I believe the person responsible is from the Crivitz or surrounding area as the snowmobile he left behind when he took mine was stolen from Crivitz three weeks earlier. I worked and saved for three years to be able to afford this snowmobile and like an idiot I did not put full coverage on it, so if it is not found I am pretty much out the $9700 I paid for the sled. It’s a 2011 Red and black Ski Doo Renegade with aftermarket tow bumper installed. Please help by sharing my photo! All it will take is one person with info to catch this guy!
Gordon is offering a $5,000 cash reward for safe return of sled and tip leading to the arrest of the criminal.
I posted Gordons email above so any info can go directly to him.
Thanks for your help,
Jerry