Clear and sunny

Midday post today under clear blue skies!
At noon, it is 61.9 degrees and steady
39% humidity and steady
The barometer is 29.65 inches of mercury and steady

We're registering between 4 and 1 mph of wind during the time observed.
The current fire danger is LOW.

Today's NWS forecast is Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Sunny day

Nice one right from the start today.

At 7:30 am, it is 53.8 degrees and rising.
57% humidity and rising
The barometer is 30.03 inches of mercury and steady under clear blue skies
There is no measurable wind.
The fire danger remains HIGH, with parts of Maine and coastly New Hampshire in VERY HIGH. This is early to be having such high fire warnings.
The NWS Boston forecasts Sunny, with a high near 82. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph.

And speaking of fire danger: on this date in 1957, 12,500 acres of Miles Standish State Forest and surrounding communities were burned by wildfire. You can read a bit more about this fire by scrolling down here, and read about how they're preventing it from happening again here. And in one of the ironies of species management, you can read how scales, which are killing the red pines planted to replace the trees lost in 1957, may be doing us a favor in restoring habitat.  

As the wren is singing...

A little cooler than yesterday, but another lovely morning! More and more leaves are coming out, more flowers are coming into bloom, and our resident wren is quite pleased about it all!

At 7:30 am, it is 56.5 degrees and rising.
The humidity is 46% and steady.
The barometer is 30.15 inches of mercury and steady under clearing skies.
Due to the low humidity and some expectations of light winds, the fire danger remains HIGH.

NWS Boston's forecast: Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 78. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.

The Cascades are still running, but they're slowing down, so if you want to enjoy the waterfall, come by soon!

We've certainly been seeing plenty of activity out on the trails, including what looked like new babies out on early hikes. The  Mayflies are out (particularly when there is no wind), but otherwise, conditions are great for being out! Enjoy!

March blowing in!

Don't know if you heard the wind last night, but it was shaking the Lodge! We don't have as much this morning: varying from nothing up to 4 mph in the observed period.
At 7 am, it is 20.7 degrees and rising. Back to wintery cold!
Humidity is at 43% and steady.
The barometer reads 29.65 inches of Hg and steady under clear skies with the sun just coming over the hills.
The two stream channels are open and running.
The whole hill of the Cascade remains snow covered.

The National Weather Service forecast for today is:

Sunny, with a high near 29. Blustery, with a northwest wind 14 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph.

Chilly but warming

We're working on springtime here! We lost quite a bit of snowpack over the weekend.
At 7:30, it is 24.8 degrees and rising.
The humidity is 56% and steady
The barometer is 29.74 inches of Hg and steady under clear skies.
Both stream channels are open and running through banks of snow.

I was asked over the weekend if the Cascades were running yet. While there is water running under the ice and snow, the hill is still encased. There hasn't been enough sustained warmth on the east-facing hill for that to melt away and for the falls to open up. We'll let you know when they do!

Also, if you're outside in the early morning, you'll hear a lot more bird activity now than a few weeks ago. The chickadees and cardinals are singing, and I just heard a woodpecker hammering away on a dead tree.

NWS forecast for today: 
Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. West wind around 7 mph.

Another lovely one!

Another lovely day here, 'though a bit chillier than yesterday.
At nine am, it is 54.5 degrees and rising.
The humidity is 50%.
The barometer is at 29.23 inches of mercury and rising under clear blue skies.
The fire danger (from HIGH yesterday) is now MODERATE.
Light wind of about 3 mph

Earth Day clean-up day!

It's Earth Day clean-up day here in the city of Worcester, and we hope you'll either come down to Cascades East (that's Olean Street, on the Holden line) or find a clean-up near you on the REC's map to pitch in on!

At nine am, it is 50.5 degrees and rising.
We have 53% humidity and falling.
The barometer is 29.62 is inches of mercury and steady.
We have clear blue skies here today.
The fire danger remains MODERATE.

Happy clean-ups!

Happy Arbor Day!

Happy Arbor Day!
It's lovely out today, and the trees are just getting their leaves out.
At 8:30, it is 47.3 degrees and rising.
We're seeing 48% humidity and falling.
The barometer is at 29.53 inches of mercury and steady under clear blue skies.
The brook is running at 1.92 inches.

Tomorrow brings the citywide Earth Day clean-ups. If you head over to the Regional Environmental Council's website, they have handy map posted of where you'll find a place you can pitch in. The Greater Worcester Land Trust is running clean-ups at three properties: two we could particularly use a hand on are Broadmeadow Brook (off of Kirkland Street) and Cascades East (off Olean Street). Clean-ups start at 8:30 and go until the DPW truck comes or 1 pm, whichever comes first.And if you're working on a GWLT property, please join us here at the Lodge for a cookout afterward!

Happy April!

The Cascades are running, the bulbs are coming up, the birds are singing in the morning now: we may have spring here!
The brook is leaping to as high as 6 inches this morning, and the Cascades are pouring down the hill (if you haven't seen them in action, this is a good chance!). The rain really made a difference overnight!
At 8 am, it is 41.9 degrees and rising.
Humidity is 88% and steady.
The barometer is at 28.85 Hg and steady under clearing skies.
We are currently not measuring any wind.

The day before

I'm just back in from refilling all of our birdfeeders, as people aren't the only ones getting ready for the incoming blizzard! It is very cold out; we've just hit 20 degrees now.
The humidity is 49%.
The barometer is at 29.91 and rising still.
Clear blue skies.
The falls right now are frozen, 'though there is still water flowing under the ice.

And should you wish to get a bit of woodwork in before the snows, we have our stalwart group of volunteers outside right now, working on signs. They'll be here til noon (and we have the coffee on), so do come by for a bit if you can!

Blue skies?

We are seeing blue skies here at the Lodge on and off today, as things begin to dry out a bit. The first evidence of that: our fire danger is back up to LOW as of this morning!

Today the brook is running at 4.5 inches after .2 inches more of rain overnight.

At noon, the temperature is 54 degrees and steady

The humidity is down to 73%.

The barometer is back up to 29.41Hg.

Feels like fall

While it isn't as chilly as it has been the past few mornings, it does feel like fall out there today!
At 8 am, it is 50 degrees and rising.
The barometer is at 29.47 inches of mercury and steady under clear blue skies.
The brook is again dry.

It is sign and timber work Thursday here at the Lodge; if you have some time this morning, come by any time after 9 to help with log hewing. If you saw us at stART, you know that we have a whole sign frame read to go for Pine Glen in West Boylston; we just need to finish the sign for that. The frame we're working on next will at the end of Dawson Road to mark the KinneyWoods property.

Hazy, lazy

We're expecting heat moving in over the next couple of days, so we hope you enjoyed the cooling off last night. The rain wasn't enough to get the Cascades really started back up again, but it did at least give the trees a drink!

At 9:30 am, it is 76 degrees and steady, with a light breeze ('though not measurable) here at the Lodge.
The barometer is at 29.12 inches of mercury and steady under clear blues.

Remember: it's always cooler under the trees!

Frigid

There may be no snow, but there's no mistaking the season this morning: it is COLD outside!
At 8 am, it is 22.5 degrees and steady (brrr).
52% humidity and steady (it's getting too cold to hold much water in the air)
The barometer is 29 inches of mercury and steady
The stream is running steadily, with some ice around the edges. The Cascades did some melting and refreezing over the weekend, and continue to run.
Fire danger continues to be NONE.

Yesterday, we were cutting trail and flagging a new trail loop at Kinneywood at the Dawson Road. We had a big enthusiastic crew for a great start to the new year!

Unseasonably Warm!

A nice day for a hike, but dress for the weather!
At 8:59am,
-the temperature is 65.5 F and rising,
-the humidity is 65% and steady,
-the pressure is 29.59 and steady.

Clear

We've got another clear day here at the Lodge.
The water is still flowing over the Cascades. We've had a report in from the trails that, while there is debris from the storm on the trails, there are no trees down. Thanks, Tina!
65.1 degrees and rising
81% humidity and falling
29.35 inches of mercury and steady
No rainfall since yesterday
The stream is at 6.12 inches, which you'll note is a whole FOOT less than Sunday!
No wind
Enjoy!

Post-Irene calm

Certainly the post-storm calm out there this morning!
At 7:30 am, it is 58.3 degrees and steady, rather chilly actually.
84% humidity
29.06 inches of pressure and rising.
In total, we had 3.66 inches of rain during the storm.

We avoided most damage up here in the Lodge. We've got several sizable trees down: one across the driveway, one across the trail, one behind the shed.
We are asking all hikers and walkers to please report in with downed trees or blocked trails.

We need to know what trail, and where/about how far in.
If you can try to classify what is bowsawable (up to 10" or so) and what is chainsawable (=or > 12") that would be great. Many thanks!

Nice Day!

At 5:44 pm, the,
temperature is 70.5 degrees and falling,
humidity is 60 % and rising,
pressure is 29.29 and steady.
A nice day for a hike!

At 8:02 the
TEMPERATURE is 70%F and steady,
HUMIDITY is 98 and steady,
PRESSURE is 29.00 and steady.
It is a nice sunny day and the birds are singing.
The fire danger is LOW.

Clear!

We've got a sparkling fall day out there this morning! The remnants of Nicole have left us with a bit of a Cascades and stream, wet trails, and lots of leaves down. But it's clear and going to remain so.
At 9:30 am, it is 56 degrees and rising (but slowly).
The barometer is 29.12 and rising.
Light (not measurable) wind here under the cliff.