11:30am- It has warmed up and we are out of danger from the ice storm. There is a 1/8″ layer, but in some places it is already melting off. It will be slippery when it all freezes back up tonight, but it warmed up fast enough that there was no 1/4 to 1/2″ of ice accumulation on trees and power lines. We dodged a real mess by a degree or two.
9:30am Update-
The freezing rain has made about a 1/8″ layer on the car and porch. So far it does not appear to be accumulating on the trees. Travel might be ugly but there is no disaster yet as far as trees and power lines.
Overnight Update-
Greetings and Welcome!
All that I can say is wow and thank you. I am home after working almost as many hours in the last 3 days than normal people work in a week. I’m tired, I’m sore, and I am just incredibly grateful. Thank you to all of the people that made this a really great weekend. I am blessed.
I worked at Rapids Resort Saturday afternoon and Sunday and got to meet a lot of snowmobiling friends.I am sure that I missed more web site friends than I met. I saw.. Paul S and his family, I met Brian & Cindy from Cedarburg, I met the guys from 5 Corners/West Bend, a group riding with Dylan of Riding With Dan and Dylan fame stopped in, just on and on. I got my first 5 miles of the season in riding home a beautiful 94 Indy Trail That Steve C donated to me after seeing mine on the site last year. A couple of you donated hard earned dollars, and that is tremendously appreciated too. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you all.
Right to business.
When I drove home from Rapids late Sunday night the fog-drizzle-light rain had turned to freezing rain. The road was pure glaze ice with rain falling on it and freezing. It doesn’t get slipperier than that. The sober bartender thing really paid off, but even with my Firestone Winterforce tires I was doing 5mph and for about half of the ride home I had two wheels in the gravel. I live here, I am good at this, I have the best non-studded winter-only tires available, and it was bad. I posted warnings here, on Facebook, and I called the non-emergency dispatch to let them know. It’s bad.
We are under an ice storm WARNING right now for 1/4 to 1/2″ of ice. The radar is showing enough rain coming to do it. We will likely see power outages, and on untreated roads, near impassable conditions. It would be great if it turned to snow and was more manageable. From what I am seeing now one of my first acts in the morning will involve getting the ol’ Honda generator running. The good news is that with temps in the upper 20s/low 30s a little road salt will work great on the roads that they do treat.
As far as the trails, we did not go backwards with our warm weather over the weekend ( never hit 40, got 39/cloudy Sunday tho..). The ice glaze will add to the base, so it will help us in the long run as long as it doesn’t get too crazy with the rain. The trail conditions remain very good for now.
At any rate.. Here are some pictures that I took of some of the riders that I met this weekend. Thank you all! If I don’t ask you, please ask me! I like doing them, and my hosts at the Rapids Resort like it too. I (Eventually) post these to the Rapids FaceBook page, here, and on the archive page. If you want the 300DPI version, use the contact form and make a subject line that will distinguish it from the 300 or so spam e-mails that come in from it daily. I will be glad to get a hi rez copy to you no charge.
One last note.. I have a friend with an aluminum 2 place trailer with salt shields for sale here in Silver Cliff. It needs new plywood but otherwise looked like a nice trailer. If you are interested I will help you guys find each other for details.
Time to wrap it up for this morning..
If you are north of Hwy 64 buckle up, this ice storm could get ugly. The TV says 1/4-1/2″ of ice accumulation. If it gets heavy expect power outages, and not just the typical couple of hours. (The outstanding WPS linemen usually have us back up very quickly.)
What I see on the radar and the temperature profiles, and what is falling outside my door has me worried. I am doing laundry now, and I am going to get a shower and store some water when I wrap up here. It really would make my day if it just turned that one or two degrees colder to make the chunky freezing rain into wet heavy snow.
You know that I will be on it if this goes bad. It might take me a few hours to get one of my generators up, but as long as my satellite or cell phone internet works I will be all over it. I will update ASAP if there is big news. No news is good news.
Have a good Monday and thank you for visiting!
One very grateful RJB
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