Bright Sunshine!

8:45 a.m.

Bright Sunshine!
The Cascades Brook is at 4.4" of flow (no icing as yet),
The skies are clear and blue and cloudless,
The temperature is 33 degrees F and rising,
No precipitation, though there was a frost and fun frost structures in the dirt and mud this morning,
It is very nearly breeze-less,
The USFS Fire Danger Class is NONE.

The weather is beautiful, especially for late fall/early winter. Soak it in.

There is much commotion to our south as the subdivision gets its lollipop cul de sac paved today. The street is reduced in width with parked vehicles for the job site, many trucks are coming and going, and there is no officer to direct traffic so be careful out there.

Spoke again with the DPW Customer Service folks about the illegal trash that appeared in early October, and was formally reported on October 12th. The trash wasn't examined for evidence, and the illegal dumping wasn't removed, yet somehow the file got closed out as having been finished. Well, we get a new confirmation number, an apology, and we hope for the best. The only dark positive in all of this is that the illegal dumper doesn't add new dumping until the old stuff is removed so we haven't had any new problems, just longstanding ones.

Also we pause today to remember Jeff Barnard of Wormtowntaxi who died yesterday. God bless Jeff.

Sun, Wind, Little Warmth

Today saw sun!
There was a fair breeze for most of the day.
There wasn't, however, much warmth. It hovered around 40 degrees F for a lot of the day.
The Cascades Brook had previously been measuring 4.4" of flow, but probably was just a little lower.

There was some activity down here at Cascading Waters as we took down, brushed down, folded, and packed away the tent for the season.

Hikers, and a dog walker or two, passed through from time to time.

We are getting close to the first snow of the season and we are making every effort to be ready for when it comes. Remember, it is November 24th, and we have yet to have any snow of consequence. It will come. Soon.

Sunny and cold (to start anyway)

8:20 a.m.

The Cascades Brook is at 4.6",
It is all blue skies and cloudless sky,
There is a light breeze,
The temperature is 37.5 degrees F.

It simply could not be a more wonderful start to a November Friday!

Fabulous work was done yesterday hewing logs, cutting notches in beams, and poly-urethaning signs here at the Lodge. It too was a simply wonderful November day to be outside!

Remember: it could be snow

It's not that unusual to have snow by the middle of November, so if you're not enjoying all this rain, remember: it could be snow.
The stream is up to 6.6 inches. While the Cascades aren't roaring, they are running fast. Expect the trails to be muddy at this point: the ground is fairly saturated, and it just can't soak in much more. And wet leaves are slippery!
At 9 am, it is 52 degrees and rising under gray skies.
The barometer is at 28.73 and falling.

Overcast, and Damp

7:30 a.m.

Well folks,
Here at the base of the Cascades we have:

Overcast skies,
No wind or breeze,
Occasionally spitting light rain,
no recordable rain amounts though,
44 degrees F,
with the Cascades Brook is at 4.2" (which is notable after a very dry summer and fall),
USFS Fire Danger Class is NONE.

SNOW!

Yes, we did indeed get some; it's sticking still in places under cover and under the trees. This wasn't your usual late fall dusting, either: this was some serious stuff. We also got some sleet last night, which was pretty noisy, and now it's switched entirely to rain. At 8:45 am, it is 38 degrees, so that will be it for exciting precipitation for today.
All of this, however, has the stream back up to a solid five inches (once you pull all the leaves away from the stream gauge). The Cascades are running!

All of which makes this afternoon's trail clearing work at God's Acre more urgent: WINTER IS COMING! If you can join us from 3-5pm today, we're meeting at Logan Field (yes, that means we've made progress). Loppers and bow saws welcome!