Cold day to vote!

We're posting a bit late today, as we took a bit of the morning to walk down to the polls. Cold out there today!
(Go vote, anyway!)

The cold means that Cook's Pond is starting to get a coat of ice; it's a bit bigger every morning. As it looks like we have only a slight chance of getting above freezing for any length of time this week, that will only continue. Most of the snow we got over the weekend has stuck around, except in the spots that get a lot of sun.
The stream this morning, which is still running briskly, is at 5 inches even.
The barometer (at noon) is at 29.47 and rising; that will change over the course of the afternoon, as we've got a storm coming in.
Current temperature here is just 40, with a bit of a breeze. It was 30 when I check this morning at 7 am.

Snow coming in tonight, through tomorrow lunchtime: could add up to several inches. Best chance of a snow day we've had so far this year!

Juncos are here!

I don't know if they were waiting on snow or what, but those flocks of busy little gray birds are out there this morning. And, tipped off by the squirrels, they've found the birdfeeder.

The stream is at 5.6; down a bit, as the snow really isn't melting.
The temperature is 36 and slowly rising, as of 9am
The barometer is 29.47 inches and steady under overcast skies

Snow coated landscape

The Lodge fireplace is ablaze this evening.
The warmer weather never totally materialized and the snows pasted to the sides of the trees are still in evidence.
There are spots of wet mush as well as spots of ice on the trails.
All in all it was and remains beautiful out there.

Today the USFS Fire Danger Class is: NONE (hardly a surprise there!)
Presently it is 9:25 pm and:
The temperature is 27 degrees F;
and the pressure is 29.47" of Hg and steady.

Snow coming

Snow is coming, and some of it already fell before switching over to rain.

12:01 p.m. and:
The Cascades Brook is presently running at 5.4";
The temperature is 40 degrees F;
The pressure is at 29.23" and steady;
The sky is overcast, it is spitting rain, and there is a fair breeze;
The USFS Fire Danger Class is at LOW.

The predictions call for a confused mix. No one really knows what the final result will be.
Pavement should fair well as it retains heat well and snow won't accumulate well when and if it falls.
Bare ground cools faster and could see more accumulation.
I have heard that this area could possibly see as much as 3-6" before this is over, but that it will all melt as soon as temps rise on Sunday.

We here are hopeful for snow.

Sunny and chilly

Not as lovely as yesterday (which we enjoyed on the Hull ferry in Boston Harbor), but still quite lovely for December 4!
At 9 am it is 40 degrees and rising
The barometer stands at 29.29 inches of mercury and rising
Skies are clear and blue
The stream is up to 6 inches even, still full of runoff from Tuesday's rain.
Still no birds at the feeder.

Clear day

Nice clear cold day out there this morning. Frost on the ground and the windshields.
At 9 am it is 39 degrees and rising (slowly).
Barometer stands at 29.38 and steady.
The stream is at 4.8 inches.

We finally got one of our birdfeeders out yesterday; we'll see if the birds remember us!

Stream is up!

The stream is up to 5 inches this morning, from yesterday's rain. Both the secondary and tertiary channels are open.
At 9 am it is 38 degrees and rising slowly. It's cold enough to numb your ears!
The barometer is at 29.09 and rising under clear blue skies.
The work on the development next door continues, 'though it looks like today they won't be in Olean Street but are sticking within the property.

Rains return

It is 8:50 a.m. and sprinkling on and off, with occasional breaks in the clouds for sun just to confuse things.

The Cascades Brook is flowing at 5";
The temperature is 52 degrees F;
The pressure is at 28.79" of Hg and steady;
The USFS Fire Danger Class is NONE;
The surfaces show a sheen of wet, and last night left a dew on things to boot.

The National Weather Service calls for rain this morning until 4 p.m. and then occasional showers in the evening.
Still, it is unseasonably warm.

The development project next door continues at full throttle.

When I headed down to Olean this morning I saw a full armada of ducks heading away from the shore in a phalanx formation as if they were the introductory scene from a oscar winning film. The water before them was like glass and the water behind them showed tracks of turbulent disturbance and flow. Quite the image.

A Warm Foggy Night

I just went for a short walk outside and it was comfortable in short sleeves.
More of this oddly warm November, that is now very nearly over!

The time now is 8:51 p.m;
The Cascades Book is at 4.6" with decent flow;
The USFS Fire Danger Class is LOW;
The pressure is at 29.91" of Hg and steady;
The temperature is 49 degrees F;
There is partial visibility of the moon through low haze/fog.

Happy Thanksgiving folks!

This was supposed to be a sunny day?!

This was supposed to be a sunny day?!

Ah well....
At least the rains hold off until around 2pm.

Presently it is 7:49 a.m. and the conditions are:
29.97" of mercury and steady;
43 degrees F;
overcast with a light breeze;
otherwise dry with no new precipitation as yet;
the Cascades Brook is at 5";
USFS Forest Fire Danger Class is None.

The development continues at full throttle to our south.

Yesterday morning, starting at 4 a.m. ish we lost power, and only regained it around 5:30-6:00 p.m.
That was a fun reminder of last year's ice storm complete with fire in the fireplace, flashlights and oil lamps.
Two telephone poles were taken out early Sunday morning in a car accident/fatality.
New poles, new lines, and an accident scene needed tending to.
Olean Street/Reservoir Road was closed from Holden at Bailey Road to Worcester's Dawson Road.
It would appear that someone went into the Olean Street curve near Dawson Road much much too fast.
It was hard to complain or begudge the loss of power under the circumstances.

Another amazing November day!

This has got to be the most pleasant November I can recall.

Presently it is 12:15 pm:
The temperature is a wondrous 57 degrees F,
The Cascades Brook is at 5.4" with good flow due to our week of recovery from the rains;
The pressure is at 29.23" and steady;
There was no precipitation registered over night;
The USFS Forest Fire Danger Class is LOW;
The sun keeps poking through the clouds and is making it a short sleeves and vest sort of day!
There is a light breeze.

The trails are in good condition and are firming up after the rains.
It is a great day to get out there and embrace the weather while we have it!

Rain coming!

We've got a hazardous weather outlook coming in for tonight: heavy rain, possibly flooding. Go make sure there aren't leaves covering your storm drain!

At 9 am, it is 40 degrees and rising, but only slowly.
We've got some wind here as well.
Barometer stands at 29.44 inches of mercury and steady under overcast skies.

I'd say that if you want to get out and not get soaked, you might want to get out there today!

Stream is up

And sure enough, the stream is up to 5.2 this morning, running fast. The Cascades are flowing nicely.
Overcast out there; the barometer is at 29.53 under cloudy skies.
It is just hitting 50 degrees now.
We saw plenty of people out and about yesterday enjoying the lovely fall day. Today should be a bit cloudier, but you might want to get out now: rain is coming in (and it's quite a storm if you check out the radar map).

Culvert check

As I type this, the big DPW truck is checking the culverts up on Cataract Street. Thanks! Always good to avoid unnecessary flooding (the National Weather Service does have a hazardous weather warning for street flooding up)...And the Cascades are running nicely today!

It is raining again here, knocking down a lot of the yellow maple and hickory leaves. It doesn't appear to have slowed down the squirrels, however.

At 9 am, it is 48 degrees
The barometer is at 29.23 and steady

And just to clarify: even if there is no sign up and I don't see you? You still can't take an ATV over by Cook's Pond.

Signs & Cooks

Yesterday was fun.

In a driveby of the Cook's Pond property I caught in a fleeting glance a previously unnoticed "posted" sign.

As my brain was trying to process that at 35 plus MPH I also half noted the absence of the "No Motorized Vehicles" sign that went up last week as well.

I needed to do another pass for recon to confirm what my instant reactions thought they recorded, and sure enough, the poison ivy lost enough leaves to reveal another "posted" sign, and someone swiped the no-motorized one (aluminum nails still in the tree.)

So yesterday I grabbed a ladder, some clippers, and the bag of sign stuff and merrily headed out to rectify the situation.

The funny part is that folks take signs for two reasons:

1. Trophies for the den (not very helpful); or
2. As if there were magic in the sign and taking it down makes the restriction go away and the landowner suddenly agreeable (not very smart).

Well, if there be magic in the sign, know this, I got a bag full of them, and master screens for them at a sign producer in upstate New York.

If it is just a trophy, well, hopefully you only needed to steal that one.

In any case it was a warm and gorgeous day, and it was nice to be out on the property.

We will keep an eye on things, albeit a peripheral vision one.
Hikers and locals are most welcome to note and report missing signs and we will get right on it.

Stream's up

This morning the stream is up to 4 inches, as the snow (it snowed again up by the airport yesterday) melts in the hills.
The swamp maples are turning yellow (they tend toward yellow; funny, as they are also called red maples...the red is the stem of the leaf)

At 9 am it is 29.32 inches of mercury and steady under sunny skies
It's 42 degrees and slowly rising
One of our daily dogwalkers just went through.