Now we are getting somewhere..
Update- Overnight temperatures got down to 6 in Crivitz and 1 in Wabeno. RJB
Greetings and welcome!
We have the coldest night of the season unfolding tonight. As of 10pm it is 13 in Crivitz, Shawano has 12 and as usual Wabeno is the coldest in the area with 8 degrees. The wood burner is hungry tonight and I am finding the weaknesses in my insulation.
From my NorthernDestinations blog..
Protect your plumbing.. Normally I don’t have to start the heater in the pump house and plumbing heat tape until after Thanksgiving, but it looks like this year it will come early. It is ok if it gets into the upper teens overnight if the days on either side will be over 40. Thursday night’s forecast is for a low of 8 degrees surrounded by 25 degree days. That won’t cut it, so it is time to protect the plumbing.
We have had temperatures about 10 degrees below normal (45ish is now 35ish) for the recent past. Earlier this week I started to see first ice happening on lakes and marshes. Tuesday a friend had 1/2″ of ice on his mini-pond.
The ground firmed up this week too. If you recall last weekend’s 6″ of snow fell on mud and only lasted a few days. Now the ground is frozen hard. How deep? Probably not too much in one week, but tonight will help.
The blast of Arctic air responsible for our cold temperatures tonight has been bringing a lot of lake effect snow off of Lake Superior. You know that there are strong winds and good fetch when the lake effect snow falls all of the way down to Crivitz. The wind is strong, the air is very cold, and the lake is relatively warm. This is prime lake effect snow conditions.
When I went to Crivitz today about 2pm I was dealing with snow and ice on town roads, and some really fun snow squalls. On the way home there was one that took visibility down under 1/4 mile it was snowing so hard. Two miles later I drove out of it to mixed clouds and blue skies.
By the end of the day I had about 1.5-2″ on the ground in Silver Cliff, and Crivitz had enough to make the grass white as of 2pm.
The lake effect was much more generous to the UP snow belt. I wasn’t around to see the radar today when it was hitting the western UP. Since 6pm it has been just pounding the central and eastern UP east of about Marquette. The lower UP is also getting pounded on the northern and west side of the state from the lake effect snow too. While the Michigan trails don’t open until 12-1 the radar suggests that they are getting enough for a ride.
While this is all pretty exciting, it is a little early. A look at next week’s forecast has us back into the mid-40s and a couple of sunny days. There is a snow chance Friday night into Saturday that could change to rain or freezing rain depending on timing and temperatures.
In the longer term outlook I see a big storm for next Friday, the opening weekend of deer hunting. That one looks like mostly rain that changes over to snow late in the storm. The low is tracking too far north for us to be in the big snow. The one showing up for Tuesday the 23rd is shown tracking a lot closer to just right. It is a big powerful storm, and if it hits as shown it will be a significant storm.
I know, I know. It is two weeks out so it is just a nice cartoon. Combined with pre-season anticipation I can be a little gullible and get hopeful about a storm waaaaay off in the distance. I have a lot of ground to cover on my outside chores before I am ready for a foot of snow, but I am still excited about it.
You know that winter is starting when the NEW Low Buck Vintage Riders antique snowmobile show is coming. It is always the first weekend in December. It used to be at the Gateway Bar, but it moved about 4 miles north to Middle Inlet this year.
It is time for me to throw another log on the fire and stretch out in front of it and get some sleep as visions of snowmobiling… zzzzzzzz
Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB