Water, water

Last night's storm + melting on top of the snow and ice led to the exciting discovery this morning that, yes, the driveway to the Lodge washed out last night. Should you come by, you'll see that this leads directly to the lower parking area (as well as what's usually damp around it) being a pond. Unless you have a tall truck, consider the parking area CLOSED.

All the 400 acres of meltwater to the north and west are merrily running down the hill: the Cascades are ROARING today! Currently, the Cascades Brook stands at a foot even; from leaf wash, it looks like it was at least 1 foot 4 inches last night, possibly higher. The secondary stream is open.

Since daylight, we've had snow here, which is accumulating enough to give a bit of a grip on the trails, which otherwise are an uneasy mix of ground and ice-covered. Proceed with care!

At 9 am it is just over freezing: 34 degrees and rising slowly.
The barometer stands at 28.47 and rising.
Fire danger is LOW.

Slushy

It is very soggy out there today. Should you go out, we recommend waterproof footwear. In most cases, there is a thin snowcover that is completely water saturated. In spots, it will suddenly go up to your ankles, however.

At 9 am, it is 40 degrees and rising a bit.
Drizzling rain
The barometer is at 29.82 inches of mercury and steady
The stream is rushing past at 6 inches.
The Cascades are frozen still, but there's plenty of water coming down them, nonetheless.

Keeping an eye west

I should point out that if the weather stays this warm, the Cascades will open up and roar. So far, they're frozen, though they've definitely got water flowing through. That should only increase overnight, with this slushy stuff we've gotten today.

And one of the junior rangers fell in the brook today. Glad it was so warm!

Lovely!

It's a lovely Sunday afternoon out there; we just had a group including at least three dogs, one child in a backpack, and several adults head up the trail. The trails are SLICK, however, as yesterday's melting all froze last night! Proceed with care!
At 2 pm, it is SUNNY and breezy, just hitting 40 degrees.
The barometer is steady at 28.97.
The Cascades are trickling through the snow.

A bit of a photo

If you know what you're looking for...
He's behind the rock, heading away from you.

FOX!

And we were all so thunderstruck that we did not get a photo.
It just now (at 9:30 am) headed up the trail from the Olean Street direction, crossed the brook by the house, and headed north across the neighbor's lot.
It was acting normally, too.

Brrr...continues

The human barometers of the family can already feel the storm coming, 'though the actual barometer here is 29.15 inches of mercury and steady under bright sunny skies.
It remains frigid--20 degrees at 9 am--and looks to stay that way for much of the week.
The Cascades are an ice pile (pretty!); the brook is frozen along the edges, but still running through the center of the brook.

Fire danger is LOW.

Will we break freezing?

Possibly...
At 10:30, it's just breaking 30 degrees.
The barometer stands at 29.44 and RISING
Sunny blue skies
Fire danger is LOW
The snowfall from Wednesday night has been packed, but not yet to the slippery point, so the trails should continue to be in okay shape ('though there isn't enough cover for skies or snowshoes).

Snow?

Somehow I missed that we were getting snow last night, so the half inch or so that we got came as a surprise.
Colder today; we'll be lucky if it breaks freezing.

At 9 am, it is 26 degrees and slowly rising
The barometer stands at 29.23 inches of mercury and steady
Cloudy skies; there's still a chance for more snow
The stream is frozen in solid at 9 inches, but running through the center at more like 4 or so.

A bit of snow on the trails today, but nothing that will slow you down. Enjoy!

Bundle up!

An intrepid dog walker just came by, bundled up as far as possible. You'll need it today. The temperature at 9:30 am is 12, but with the windchill, we're well below zero.
The barometer is 29.26 inches and steady under bright sunny skies
Quite an amazing wind out there!
The Cascades are still running a bit through the snow that came down yesterday, but they're freezing fast!
The snow cover has largely taken care of the icy spots on the trails for now.

Snowing!

AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL CROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. THIS WILL BRING SNOW SHOWERS AND LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW
SQUALLS WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS AND POOR VISIBILITIES. THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS OF NORTHWEST MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE
WILL BE MOST PRONE TO THESE SQUALLS WITH ISOLATED SNOW AMOUNTS UP TO
3 INCHES POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN.

Snowing...a bit

We've got a storm front moving in, so those spots that have cleared might just possibly be white by this afternoon.
The stream, which was up to 8.2 inches on Tuesday, has fallen back down again. The Cascades are running nicely, though; come by!

The trails in the higher traffic areas are slick, as the trampled snow has frozen solid. If we get some substantial snow cover, it should take care of that, but in the meantime, take care out there.

At 9:30 it is 34 degrees and rising
The barometer is at 29.18 and steady under cloudy skies
The fire danger is LOW

Sorry for the lack of posting this week: we've had stomach flu compounded by a failing water heater!

Snowing like the dickens!

Snow, sleet and freezing rain all day!
At 9 am it is 38 degrees and barely rising.
Snowing.
The brook is running, but it's frozen at the edges.
Barometer is at 29.15 inches and steady under cloudy skies.

And it's ELECTION DAY in Massachusetts!

Warmer again

(well, relatively speaking!)

At 9 am, it is 38 degrees and rising
The barometer is at 29.23 and steady under cloudy skies
The radar looks clear out to the west, though.
The fire danger is LOW

The stream is still frozen.

Warmer?

You know it's been cold when you look at the thermometer at 8:30, it says 25, and you think, "Hey, it's warming up!"

It is!

At 9 am, it is 28 degrees and rising; we may break freezing today!
The brook is, well, frozen, though still running down the middle.
The barometer stands at 29.44 inches and steady under sunny skies.

Trail conditions are good, if you want to get out there today. Trails are snow-covered and broken, but not so packed as to be slippery in most parts of the Cascades. It also looks like it's going to be a nice couple of days for it (might be up to 40 by Saturday).

Brook is freezing!

I think Monday's post will be the last brook measure for awhile; when we checked this morning, it was frozen hard enough to walk on, right at 4 inches. It isn't frozen all the way across (it usually doesn't), but it is frozen well around the edges!
And the Cascades look like a big snowpile.

At 9am it was 18 degrees and rising, barely.
Barometer is 29.26 under cloudy skies.
We aren't seeing too much trail activity beyond dog walkers. It is COLD.
It doesn't appear to have slowed down the juncos, sparrows, chickadees, mourning doves, and blue jays, however!

It is COLD!

11 degrees here at the Lodge at 7:30 a.m.
Luckily the air is still.
This is not the sort of day where you want to have to think about windchill!
The last few days the fireplace was warmed the Lodge supplementing the furnace.

Presently:
the pressure is 29.26" of Hg and steady;
the temperature is 11 degrees;
the USFS Fire Danger Class is NONE;
there is no wind and the sky is clear;
the trails are all snow covered, with many being tracked with animal and human prints;
the Cascades Brook is running at 4.6" (after I broke through the thick ice to get to the measuring meter.)

Come on sun!
Warm it up for us!

Eagle Count Approaching!

2008 and 2009 have seen a visiting Blad Eagle in our parts.
Along the Tatnuck Brook near Cook's Pond to be precise.
(One eagle was eating an unidentifiable bird out on the ice a year back!)

The state is doing an Eagle count, so keep your eyes peeled!

HELP COUNT EAGLES

A target date of January 8, 2010 will be used for a concentrated survey of major rivers, lakes, reservoirs and the coast by staff from the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and volunteers across the state. This event is part of a nationwide Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey that is held every year in early January. “Our long time partner, National Grid, will be assisting in the survey by providing a helicopter for surveying the Quabbin Reservoir area and the Connecticut River,” said Dr. Tom French. Ground teams will also be covering known eagle territories statewide during the day. In 2009, a record 81 bald eagles were documented in Massachusetts during the one-day event. Anyone spotting an eagle from December 30, 2009 – January 14, 2010 is encouraged to report the sighting by email at Mass.wildlife@state.ma.us or by postal mail to "Eagle Survey", MassWildlife, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581. Please provide date, time, location and town of eagle sightings, number of birds, juvenile or adult, and observer contact information.

Brrr...

It's back to work and school today (and here's hoping the sidewalks were shoveled!), and it's a cold day for it. Pretty out there, though.
At 9:45 am it is 25 degrees and rising slowly
Sunny with a barometer reading of 28.73 inches
The brook is at 4.4 inches and running.

Much of the Cascades are frozen (very pretty!), but it is running under the ice.
The resident squirrels are very busy this morning.

Report from the trails!

Intrepid hiker Tina Zlody (and her furry companions) have been out on the trails this afternoon, and sent in a report.
While we've seen people up and down our little section of the Cascades (blue circles) trail, they mostly have been breaking off to head up or down Cataract Street. Tina continued up the hill on Cascades, breaking the trail (go, Tina!). From there she followed the Silver Spring trail (yellow rectangles) up to where it heads up the hill in Boyton Park, then turned around and retraced back down.
She reports that the snow has covered the parts where it had gotten icy, so it's much less slippery going than it was earlier in the week.
It is possible, by the way, to pull into the lower lot right now, 'though it has not been cleared.
Thanks, Tina! And know that we always appreciate hearing from those out on the trails!