Greetings and welcome!
We have about an inch of snow that fell earlier in the week and now we are in the cold behind the clipper. That brings us to about 4” on the ground. Last night we added about an inch, so make that 5”
Our normal high temperature is in the upper 30s. I’d be thrilled if we got into the mid-20s. We only got up to 19 Sunday, and that had to be for a short time, I was seeing 16 or less all day. We have had below zero nights already too. Sunday night we hit -8F.
The cold weather is for sure making ice and putting frost in the ground. A lot of bigger lakes didn’t have ice when most of the snow came. That gives me hope that this cold snap will give us a good start on a lid on the lakes. When I went to the big bay on Caldron Falls Flowage (Boat Landing #9 by Thornton’s) Monday there were two leads of open water and the rest was frozen over. There was minimal snow on most of it.
Right now the outlook is for more clipper storms and our weather mostly coming from the northwest. Some clippers bring a little snow, some just cold. I would like to see some southern storms soon.
In the short term we have a pair of clippers coming for Monday night and Tuesday night. The Monday night one brought 1-2”. The Tuesday night storm looks more intense. The models are still a little varied. Some say 2-4, some say 4-6.
Tuesday and Wednesday look more moderate for temperatures with highs in the mid or upper 20s. After that the bottom drops out again and the HIGH temps for the weekend look to be around 10-15 degrees, with single digit and sub-zero nights.
The 5” that we have is enough for a skitch around the yard but that is about it. The roads are starting to get a layer but it has a ways to go before it wouldn’t be painful to ride.
Last spring we had a brutal ice storm. I had a 14” diameter oak branch crush my truck. There were branches and trees down everywhere, it was a real mess. Trails that are open to ATVs in the summer have long since been cleared. The snowmobile only trails are still a huge mess.
I saw that up in Mercer they put the word out that they needed help. They had 120 people show up with saws and winches and ATVs. They said that it took 2,000 man hours and 1,000 gallons of fuel to get the job done. I don’t remember how many thousands of trees that they had to clear but it was a lot
I saw a similar story from the 100 Miler club (Wabeno, Laona, Armstrong Creek), but with slightly different numbers.
I would not be surprised to see work days for other area clubs coming soon.
We aren’t ready yet but we are getting there.
Have a good day and thank you for visiting!
RJB