Redspot purple!

I found it!
It took some doing (hey, butterfly people, some of us can't start with the Latin names!), but I found out what we had here today: two redspot purples (Limenitis arthemis astyanax).

This isn't my photo (we weren't that fast) but it gives you an idea.
And for future reference, the site I found most helpful was Discover Life.

THE SUN!

We'd almost forgotten what it was like around here with the sun out! This morning we made the acquaintance of two toads and two butterflies (looking the butterflies up; they were black!).

At 10 am, it is 66 degrees and rising
98% humidity and steady
29.80 inches of mercury and steady

Yesterday we had a total of 1.69 inches of rain, but we've had no measurable rain since midnight.
The Cascades and the brook are lovely right now (and LOUD); check them out, as, yes, more rain is coming!

Lots and Lots of Rain!

Welcome to WaterWorld!

The Brook is at 8.8" and surging to 9" deep.
The second channel is open and running strong.
The Cascades are flowing with spots of white water.

Yesterday it rained 1.21", which in an of itself is alot,
BUT since midnight it has rained another 1.65"!
2.86" by 9:30 a.m. with more rain predicted for today!

LOTS of rain!

But what of that?
We seem to have settled back into an Atlantic NorthEast Temperate Rainforest mode of weather, much as we had last summer, but is this really far off the mark for historical norms?

Not so much, believe it or not!

As of midnight last night we were 1.24" below normal for the year.
Obviously we made up for that and stretched past it,
but with all the rain we have been having, we aren't in record territory for anything other than an absence of sun, and perhaps consistency of rain, and perpetually high humidity.

The weather as of 9:21 a.m.:
58.3 degrees F and steady;
98% humidity and steady;
29.80" of mercury and steady.

FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT
CHANCE OF HAIL

The Lodge lacks a dryer, and we rely on the sun for our drying, typically,
but we have been feeling the weather acutely, being reliant on the sun,
and exporting clothes for drying when possible.
Yesterday we lit a fire in the fieldstone fireplace to dry out camping gear from this past weekend in the rafters.
Things have been cool enough, damp enough, and dark enough where an indoor fire on July 1st was welcome indeed!

Raining

WEDNESDAY,JULY 1, 2009
61.0 degrees F and steady
98 % humidity and steady
29.77 and steady
0.98 for the rain
at 9:30

A cool day at the Lodge

Today started with measurements taken at 9:10 a.m.

63.9 degrees F and steady,
98% humidity and steady,
29.59" of mercury and steady,

Presently as the day closes out at 8:00 p.m. we are seeing:

67.3 degrees F and steady,
91% humidity and steady,
29.65" of mercury and steady.

Rain held off, items out on the line dried, a few of them anyway, and there was filtered sun.

Last night was raucous here!
Out by the brush pile to our south on adjacent land there were snarls, cries, hisses, calls, and yelps. Best as we can tell there was a wild animal face-off complete with a cornered animal and predator. Not entirely clear how it ended up, but it sure was noisy!

Long week

....no posting...sorry!
But, for the record, the stream is currently back up to five inches, and the Cascades are in a rare June rush...worth seeing!

Be gentle to the trails if you're out in this weather, and please keep the bikes at home for now.

windy ,stormy

At 9am
Temperature 60.1 degrees F and steady
Humidity 98% and steady
Inches of Mercury 29.59 and steady
Rain 0.04 inches since midnight
Stream Level 4+111
Time 9:45

Traffic on the trail

It's a busy morning at the Cascades trailhead; it looks like everyone is quickly getting out while the skies are relatively clear. Enjoy it while it lasts, as the next storm looks like a doozy.

And not to blow our own horn or anything, but we did get a nice mention in yesterday's 508 by Mike and Brendan.
We've had some trouble posting the past day or so, but we're hoping it's straightened out.

At 9:30 it is 66 degrees and rising.
95% humidity and steady (which is all that rain sitting under the trees)
Barometer is 29.64 inches and steady
Currently it is not raining, 'though I wouldn't say the sun's out, either.
Last night (after midnight) we got no measurable rain, nor was there enough to measure yesterday (hmm...I find that hard to believe. We may need to go back to low-tech on that.) Thursday's total was 0.67 inches.
The stream is up to 4.6 inches.

Trail report in today

We just had a visit from one of our intrepid summer interns who was out on the trails checking things over. Aside from a sudden trash appearance at the north end of the Cascades trail (any chance you guys down the street to get to that?) and the omnipresence of...evidence of dogs, things look pretty good. We have not yet gotten to the River Trail; we're planning a work project on that.

At 9 am, it is 56.3 degrees and steady
97% humidity and steady
30.03 inches of mercury and steady
Raining

sun today

At 9 am, it is 59.4 degrees and rising
69% humidity and falling
30.21 inches of mercury and steady

The brook stands at 3.6 inches this morning
Surprisingly slow on the trail this morning...what are you all waiting for?

Clearing

At 8 am, it is 54.5 degrees and steady
97% humidity and steady
30.18 inches of rising
And the brook is 55.9 degrees and steady, 4 inches deep

The top of the hill is 51.6 degrees and steady
97% humidity
28.88 inches and steady

As of 2:30, we've got clearing skies, which should dry things up a bit on the trails.

Turtle!

We had a visit from a large snapping turtle on Friday. She (we think?) came up the driveway and hung out there for awhile before heading off into the woods.
By our measure, her shell was about 11 inches long and 8 inches across: a BIG turtle!

Overcast...again

It's another rainy day out there today. Yesterday we had a total of 1.26 inches. Saturday was mostly clear, but Friday's total was 0.94 inches.
So it isn't surprising that the stream level is up to 4.6 inches this morning!

At 9 am, it is 57.0 degrees and steady
98% humidity with drizzle in the air
Barometer is at 30.03 inches of mercury

LOTS of rain!

I don't know if you heard it coming down last night, but we got plenty of rain last night: 0.55 inches yesterday, and 0.94 inches today since midnight! All of which has bumped the stream level up to 5.2 inches--quite a jump since yesterday!

At 9 am, it is 57 degrees and steady
98% humidity and steady; misting
29.62 inches of mercury and steady under cloudy skies

Not much traffic on the trails today!

Saturday morning trail work

GWLT and our summer interns will be tackling trail work in and around the Cascades parkland. If you have time and interest in helping, we're starting this Saturday morning, 9 am, in the Boyton Park parking lot.
Help us recover from the ice storm, deal with ATV damage, and spruce up the trails.

We'll also be doing it 6/20, 6/27, and 7/11. Help wanted!

Slackers

(that's us, by the way. Sorry for the holes here!)
This morning's readings are:
56.3 degrees and steady
94% humidity and steady
29.91 inches and steady
under cloudy skies

The stream is up a bit to 2.2 inches
Water temperature is steady at 55 degrees

Raining

We were lax in our observations this morning, so I'll give you what I have:
the high of the last 24 hours: 80 degrees and 94% humidity
the low of the last 24 hours: 54 degrees and 32% humidity

The stream temperature is down to 56. We haven't checked the level since the rain started; we will check later today. So far today we've received 0.16 inches.

At 11 am, the temperature is 55.4 degrees and steady
93% humidity with rain falling from the sky
The barometer is at 29.94 inches of mercury

It looks as though the neighborhood ATVs have decided to give it another go off of the Holden Trail. Yes, this is illegal. If you see it, let us know.

Identifying all that green stuff

Courtesy of Martha Gach from Mass Audubon comes this poem on identifying the green stuff in meadows:
Sedges have edges
Rushes are round
Grasses have joints
all the way to the ground

The three things that grow in meadows are sedges, rushes, and grasses.

At 8 am, it is 58.1 degrees and steady
67% humidity and steady
29.94 inches of mercury
The stream is WAY down to 1.8 inches
57 degrees and steady in the water