Friday, February 22, 2008

Week of 2/17

Welcome! Cold temperatures returned in a big way after a mild weekend. Starting Tuesday morning with -25, Wednesday -26, and Thursday -19......that is a trio of arctic mornings for sure. See photo below if you're curious what happens to hot (nearly boiling) water when it is thrown in the air at -26. This week we hosted the Walker 4th grade on Tuesday and FAIR Middle School (Crystal) and St. Joseph's Lab School (St. Joseph) Wed-Fri. The kids from FAIR and St. Joseph's had a great look at the lunar eclipse (see photo) on Wednesday night, and generally enjoyed the sunny weather and great ski trails.

This winter has truly been a return to the cold winters of days gone by. December 2007 averaged a whopping 12 degrees colder than 2006, January 2008 was 5 degrees colder than 2007, and February has thus far averaged 2 degrees colder than last year (data provided by Deep Portage Weather Station). In total we have experienced 12 days that hit -20 or lower in Dec.-Feb. 2008, compared to 2 days of -20 in the same time period last year. You may remember that last year was a mild winter, and that nearly all the truly cold weather we saw occurred during an impressive cold front in the first two weeks of February. See you next week!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Week of 2/10

Let it Snow! 4 inches of fresh powder fell Wednesday night, and the ski trails are looking great! This past week started off with a DNR Ecological Services Conference on Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon the adults had left and 110 wonderful young people arrived from Carlos-Garfield-Miltona (plus their wonderful teachers and chaperones of course). Garfield teacher Jan Nelson always puts a special stamp on the visit with his Friday morning awards ceremony (see photo). This weekend we have a Family Weekend group plus the annual Cass Lake Family Day on Saturday.

Phenology this week:

-we hit -20 three times this week!
-Red Crossbills have been spotted in the main building area
-4 inches of snow on Wednesday night
-Wolf tracks seen near the bog

Don't let the ski season pass you by without visiting the DP trails! Cheers until next week.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Week of February 3rd

Warmer weather has returned....for the moment. Schools visiting this week include Highland C.P., Mounds Park Academy, and Burroughs Elementary School. Note the nice perch caught by a Highland student on Monday! On Saturday and Sunday we'll be hosting a Teacher-Appreciation weekend for Rockford. Our next scheduled Saturday Public Program will be on March 1st, and will consist of a naturalist-led snowshoe hike through the Martha Sweatt-Reed Forest Preserve.

Deep Portage Phenology for this week:
  • Ruffed Grouse tracks along the Range Road
  • Woodpecker drumming is picking up intensity
  • 22 inches of ice on Bass Pond
  • half inch of snow on Sunday night was the first measurable snow since late December
The ski trails are still in good shape, so come on out this weekend and enjoy Deep Portage!