Cascading Waters can be found at 135 Olean Street on the eastern edge of Worcester's northwest parklands, the Cascades. The Cascades are 350 acres of park and conservation lands along the borders of Worcester, Paxton, and Holden, Massachusetts. Home to countless species of plants and animals, the Cascades are open to passive recreation year-round.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

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!

Monday, June 29, 2009

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.

Monday, June 22, 2009

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

Saturday, June 20, 2009

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.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

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

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

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?

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

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.

Monday, June 15, 2009

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

Friday, June 12, 2009

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!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

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

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

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.

Monday, June 08, 2009

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

Friday, June 05, 2009

Honey Locusts in bloom

If you head up the Cascades trail from Olean Street, you'll smell something sweet in bloom.
You can't see them, but, high up in the canopy, the honey locusts are in bloom.
Lovely.
(You can also see them on some downtown Worcester streets, as Worcester has planted them as street trees in some neighborhoods.)

overcast

Up the hill > at 8:09 am the temperature is 58.1 degrees F and rising
the humidity is 54% and falling
the pressure is 28.73

Here at the Lodge > 57.1 degrees F and rising
85% humidity and steady
the pressure is 29.94

the stream is 56.3 degrees F and steady
it's at 2.2 inches

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Typed to the accompaniment of a singing cardinal

He's really singing his heart out there!
We've got some interns out on the trail this afternoon, doing some surveying of trail conditions. We will post what they find!

At 8 am, at the Lodge it was:
58.5 degrees and rising
77% humidity and steady
29.94 inches of mercury and steady

The stream stands at 2.4 inches and is 55.6 degrees and steady

The high for the past 24 hours is 77 degrees and 81% humidity
The low is 53.2 degrees and 38% humidity

At Cascades West at 8am:
57.6 degrees and rising
50% humidity and falling
28.70 inches of mercury and steady

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Weather Reporting Overdrive!

Here at the Lodge we have been playing with the weather monitoring setup and have a ton of good stuff for our daily reports.

The Cascades Brook at 9 a.m.:
Depth 2.8"
Temperature 55.2 degrees F (NEW!)

The Weather at the Lodge at 8:20 a.m.:
60.6 degrees F and steady;
77% humidity and steady;
29.88" of mercury and steady.
yesterday's highs: 65.1 degrees F / 88% humidity (NEW!)
yesterday's lows: 53.6 degrees F / 37% humidity (NEW!)

The Weather at Cascades West at 8:20 a.m.:
61.0 degrees F and steady;
52% humidity and steady;
28.67" of mercury and steady.
(Now back up for the summer season!)

A beautiful day out there!
Get on out there and hike!

Monday, June 01, 2009

Another nice one

Another nice day
At 9 am, it is 51.1 degrees and rising
Humidity is 49% and falling
30.00 inches of mercury under clear blue skies
The stream level is back down to 3 inches