Lake Level Holding

at 777.87

New Rock County SNW trigger is 777.5

We are tracking how many days the SNW is not being observed or enforced by the county and, how many days this summer this new trigger will shut down boating on the Rock River.

Lake Level MAY have crested

777.91 TODAY

But rain is in the forecast here.

Still no SNW postings....

Record High Temperature Set For Fourth Consecutive Day

Record High Temperature Set For Fourth Consecutive Day « CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (STMW) – For the fourth day in a row, a record-setting high temperature has been set in Chicago.

The temperature at O’Hare International Airport, where Chicago’s official temperature is recorded, was 75 degrees at 11:51 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. The record high temperature for March 17 had been 74 degrees, which was set in 2009.

This is the fourth straight day a record high temperature has been set in Chicago.

Friday’s high of 82 degrees beat the old high temperature record for March 16 of 78 degrees, set in 1945, as well as setting the record for the earliest 82-degree day in Chicago, which had previously been set in 1945.

The new record comes on the heels of high temperatures of 81 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday, which smashed the record highs for March 14 and 15, according to the weatherservice.

The normal high temperature for March 16-18 in Chicago is 47 degrees, according to the weather service.

We are in the midst of a record-setting pattern of warmth, according to the weather service.

Daily record highs and record warm lows are in jeopardy over the next few days, and according to the weather service we may not merely break, but shatter the record for the highest average high in March, also set in 1945. The normal average high for March is 37.9, and as of Friday, the average for the month is near 47, with highs in the 60s predicted for at least the next week. The average high in that record-setting 1945 March was 48.6.

The record high temperature for March 18 in Chicago is also 74 degrees, which could also be broken, if the forecast high of 76 degrees holds. The forecast high temperatures of 77 and 76 degrees for Monday and Tuesday, respectively, are also near record-setting.

Comments on County SNW Amended Order

I am watching all the law breakers ignoring the SNW Orders where is our police protection! 


I'm worried our house may get washed away the water is only about  11/2 feet below our sea wall. 


Maybe Sandy should see how ridiculous this is. 


Also I noticed the WI. Rowing crew has had all their boats, etc. at the DNA landing but I haven't seen them out, is it because of the SNW?


If so could they get a special permit like the Aqua Jays, we enjoy seeing them in the spring.   


Thanks,  Mike  

Comments to RKLD - Sup. Sandy Kraft re: SNW order

Ms Kraft,

Since Saturday, the water level on the Rock River and Lake Koshkonong has risen above the level dictated by the new Rock County ordinance establishing a no-wake from the lake to Indianford.  

However, boaters have been speeding by at normal speed like the restriction isn’t in effect.  And guess what: nobody cares.  Because between 7.5 and 8 feet, nobody’s property is being damaged by the waves these boats generate.   

Please come down to the river an take a look, as the level stands at 7.85 ft today, just as it did last Memorial Day weekend when the river handled a busy weekend of boat traffic.  So far all this ordinance has done is turned a handful of fishermen into law-breakers.

Hopefully you can answer a couple of questions:

1.       Why isn’t this ordinance being enforced?

2.       Why was an ordinance establishing 7.5 feet no-wake passed in the first place?

Ken Brey

kenb@dmcinfo.com

312 961 0467

Where's the county?

Lake level is 777.82

No SNW ordered??

Spring weather is heating up

Spring weather is heating up

Forecast for record high temps has farmers eager to get in fields

   Forget astronomical calendars and the arbitrary timelines associated with a rodent’s prediction in early February.

   Spring is here, and it’s early enough that area farmers should get a head start on their fieldwork and spring planting.

   If this week’s forecast holds, Janesville will see record high temperatures today, Thursday and Friday.

   That would punctuate the warmest March 11-17 in 64 years of Gazette recordkeeping as determined by heating degree-days, an accumulation of the daily difference between the mean temperature and 65 degrees.

   This week’s forecast calls for a total of 34 degree-days. If that holds, this week would be the warmest—by far—of any March 11-17 period in the last 64 years.

   The next warmest was in 1990, with 95.5 degree-days. The coldest was March 11-17, 1993, when Janesville tallied a whopping 324.5 degree-days and the daily highs averaged only 29 degrees.    This week, daily highs are expected to average 71 degrees.

   The forecast by the National Weather Service in Sullivan calls for highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s today through Monday.

   AccuWeather picks up the forecast from there and generally predicts highs in the 50s and lows in the upper 30s through March 27.

   The current crop of beautiful weather is warming and drying soil, which will give local farmers the opportunity to prep fields and plant earlier than normal, said Jim Stute, UW Extension crops and soils agent for Rock County.

   Warm weather in February and March typically is a concern because it’s often followed by cold weather that injures or kills plants.

   That doesn’t appear to be the case this year.

   “Winter wheat and alfalfa have broken their dormancy and are starting to grow and green up,” Stute said Tuesday. “Here we are on March 13, and the forecast for as far as we can see is for nice weather.”

   Each day of nice weather warms the soil and adds to a buffer that would mitigate a short cold snap, he said.

   Nice weather also dries the soil, which should allow farmers an earlier entry to their fields for prep work.

   Planting, too, likely will be earlier than average, Stute said.

   Alfalfa seeding could be done as early as April, a couple of weeks early, he said. Corn could be in by the middle of April, when it’s typically planted by May 1. Soybeans will be planted next, and they, too, likely will go in early.

   Stute said farmers generally have expressed some concern over soil moisture, particularly with drought conditions to the west and in Minnesota and a less-than-average winter snow pack.

   “The heavy snow at the end of February really helped that, and the melt should help recharge the river transportation system,” he said.

   Stute said that Monday’s rain of 0.3 inches was timely because the ground is now thawed and precipitation soaks in rather than running off.

We should break a record today 3.14.12

We should break a record today -- but watch out for the 'pneumonia front'

There has never been six consecutive days of 70 degrees or higher in March since weather observations began here in 1870, according to Skilling.

The longest string of consecutive 70-degree readings currently on the books here occurred March 12-16, 1995 -- the same year which went on to produce deadly heat in July, Skilling noted.

Did the County Apply their new SNW Trigger?

Lake Koshkonong crossed the SNW barrier of 777.5

Today - 777.55

Lake Koshkonong ice 'officially' out Thursday

KOSHKONONG - Lake Koshkonong's icecap went out Thursday, marking the fourth time since records were first kept in 92 years that it disappeared on March 8. "On March 8, Lake Kosh­ko­nong was open on all except the far shoreline by Koshkonong Mounds," a veteran lake watcher reported this morning. He noted that on Wednesday, the rain and wind had pushed ice along the North Shore area, but that when the front shifted, it pushed what was left onto the northeastern shore of the lake.  "It's subjective, but I took a trip completely around the lake and it was open water everywhere except by the Mounds," he said. "We didn't have a lot of ice this year; the southwestern wind and rain on Wednesday did it in. The other years that the icecap melted on March 8 were 1921, 1975, and 1983. Until 2001, the Daily Union's records dated back to only 1947. However, in 2002, they were combined with those of three longtime Koshkonong-area families who have been keeping track of the meltdown since the 1920 flood. Those records show that in the past nine decades, the earliest the icecap has gone out has been on Feb. 25, 1998, and the latest, on April 15, 1972. Last year, it disappeared on March 24. Not surprisingly, mid-April has seen the most meltdowns since 1920. April 4 is a favorite date, as the icecap has gone out on that day six times: in 1925, 1944, 1950, 1970, 1980 and 1989. Tied for second with five years each are April 6 in 1920, 1924, 1929, 1935 and 1962, as well as March 27 in 1936, 1941, 1949, 1961 and 1994.  Six other dates tie March 8 with four years each to claim third place in the ice-out "race": March 23 in 1953, 1964, 1985 and 2009; March 24 in 1939, 1945, 1977 and 2011; March 25 in 1927, 1968, 2007 and 2010; April 1 in 1934, 1943, 1958 and 1984; April 7 in 1922, 1942, 2001 and 2008, and April 8 in 1928, 1946, 1959 and 1971.

New DNR Website

The Department of Natural Resources website, dnr.wi.gov, has been redesigned to make it easier to find information, to buy licenses online or to access permit applications. In addition to a cleaner design and improved search functions, the new website highlights outdoor activities for all seasons, department news and provides links to its social media sites. Visitors also will see a feedback link in the footer to provide comments.