High Water, Family Ties...and More!

With less lawn to mow, time can be devoted to redoing the boardwalk
along this dock.  I began my work wearing loafers and soon found myself
standing in ankle deep water that crept up around me as
silently as the fog bank observed in the background. 

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

When one isn't talking about the weather on Washington Island there is always the topic of lake levels.  The two are related, of course.

On the rise since the official, new low recorded in January of 2013, we've observed water levels creeping upward steadily, approaching record high levels seen in 1986 and 1987.  This has caused problems for boaters, shoreline owners, pier owners, and for the Ferry Line, trying to adjust to increasing water levels and shorelines that disappear one day, only to reappear a few hours or days later with a shift in wind or rise in barometric pressure.

I asked Island meteorologist and recorder of local data what might have prompted the unexpected rise and fall of the water observed on May 25th (and on several days since then).  Here is a portion of John Delwiche's reply:

"Dick: Yesterday was a very unusual day (I feel) from a meteorological standpoint. There was a shortwave impulse lifting NE thru Northern Ontario, and at the surface, a trailing Cold Front that extended across far SE Lake Superior and the Eastern UP. In other words, very close to the Island. The Storm Prediction Center mesoanalysis showed Mid-Level CAPE's edging upward ahead of the Front. (CAPE means Convective Air Potential Energy.) There was a narrow zone between the Front surging South, and the edge of the Lake Michigan modified air mass with the SSW winds you mentioned. This is only a guess, but I bet the action was going-on there, and it could have been a meso-Low. 

The narrow zone between the air masses probably showed-up best on Water Vapor Imagery from the GOES-16 (or 17) satellite that the NWS and SPC use. I don't know if I can "go back in time" with the GOES's images that I download, but I can try tomorrow morning. The best time for me to try downloading those images is very early morning(4AM-6AM). The files are so big, and it is futile to try downloads midday, much less on a weekend. I will try emailing NWS-Marquette as well. One of the guys there used to work in Green Bay, and I have emailed him in the past. "

John continued to dig for data that would help explain this observed "seiche," and hopefully he might give us greater explanation in one of his Island Observer weather columns.

The photos I've shown here exemplify what is becoming a daily challenge in ferry operations.  The Karfi, passenger ferry to Rock Island relied upon by hundreds of campers and day visitors over the summer months, operates from a landing near the boat house that will be in jeopardy on certain days when exposed to westerly or northwesterly winds and seas.  They can, and will, wash over the pier on those windiest days.  Wet feet and wet camping gear will result, and that's if the ferry can safely land behind what was formerly a protective pier.

What do 42 campsite fire rings and two semi loads of bundled firewood
have to do with high water, you may ask?  Staged on the lawn at the State Park
property in Jackson Harbor, they await transport to
Rock Island.  The previously assumed method - by one of the large 
Washington Island ferries - is out of question due both to lack of exposed pier to
butt against, and for the steepness of ferry ramp should the first evolution
be possible.  This cargo thus awaits transport by barge.

One can chance splitting the crotch in a pair of jeans
while getting to or from the Karfi deck.  The difference from
boat to pier has been eased somewhat with a step box. 
Shown here near the bow helps customers when hoisting
heavy camping gear over the rail of the ferry, items that are
often a challenge even for the muscle-bound Karfi crew to
handle with a smile.

Boaters are finding little to moor their craft against, unless pier supports are raised along the dock faces, a feat not easily or cheaply achieved.

Who's your daddy?

We recently attended a memorial service at Bethel Church for the former Island Archivist Barb Ellefson.  Barbara was known for her interest and enthusiasm for researching and teaching others the art of genealogy.  She carried the belief (unofficial, of course) that if you were from the Island, or from and Island family, then you were likely related not only to family A and B, but also C and D.

We test Barbara's theory in a combination program and teaching moment when the Archives presents "Island Genealogy," Sunday June 23 at 4:00 pm, in the Rutledge Room of the Community Center.  This location, a change from most of our public programs, means that activity will be centered next to the Archives computers and vault, and where those present may learn how important updating family records can be, and actually learn steps necessary to accomplish such a thing.  It may not matter as much to us as it might to our children, those of the next several generations who will someday wish to trace their family connections.  So, please mark June 23rd on your calendar, and spend a hour or so with Archivist Steve Reiss and the Archives volunteers to learn more about recording your family tree for posterity.  

Heading overseas!

Meanwhile, Mary Jo and I will take a leave of absence during most of June to attend to matters abroad...in this case a smattering of cruise stops in the Baltic countries.  We'll board a sister ship of the Viking Sun in Stockholm (remember the piano, chairs and plants sliding back and forth in an internet  video taken by one of the passengers on a fateful day aboard the Viking Sun in the North Atlantic? I knew immediately that was the cruise experience we were after!)

Truthfully, We've been assured that all four of the ship's engines will function smoothly (with lube oil day tanks filled and alarms reset to "Manual"), with little-or-no chance of failure, and that all itinerary stops scheduled along our route will bring smiles and education to our hearts and minds.  (What's the point of an adventure if there's never a concern for one's welfare?)   We're ready to cross the gangway and get started on our tour of Viking homelands.

In the meantime, in our absence, consider doing the opposite of the rain dance to induce a dry spell over the midwestern portion of the United States, with added emphasis and twisting movements to induce lower Lake Michigan levels during the coming months.

A show of hands...

One, last request before I close:  Be ready to put your hands in the air by the end of July if you're excited to join an Island delegation to travel to Iceland in early June of 2020.  A recent communication from our Icelandic friend Almar Grimsson prompts us to get seriously organized, which, in turn, will help our hosts and counterparts to plan for either a handful or a busload (or maybe two busloads) of Washington Island-connected folks.  Plans are to visit the seaside village of Eyrarbakki during the first week of June to join Icelanders in CelebrateIceland2020 - in whatever shape and form seems most appropriate --- "To Be Determined" during the coming months.  

Talk it up.  Get on the internet.  Check out the site, "Hey Iceland!"   Contact your friends and relatives for what could be both an epic and extremely meaningful trip to Iceland.

-  Dick Purinton

WINTER WEATHER

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

We're approaching the middle of February, a time we often think of as mid-winter.  

The temperatures have been colder the past several days with an overnight low of 10 degrees last night, and also the night before according to my unofficial porch thermometer.   On the harbor the 8-10 inch ice layer may have just thickened by an inch or two, in time for ice fishermen who will participate in the 10-day Lions Club fishing derby that officially starts today.   A few inches of snow fell yesterday morning and covered up the otherwise bare, frozen ground.   It's not what we'd call a typical winter, based on our seat-of-the-pants observations.

But how did this past month of January compare with previous Januarys?   Is it just our short term memory tricking us, or was this January warmer?

For those answers we turned to local NOAA Weather Observer John Delwiche.   John keeps accurate daily records for his island location and tabulates them at the end of the month.  But, as an official observer, John's still unable to easily locate and access data from previous years.  In order to obtain past information for comparisons, he is required to register and pay a fee for access, very surprising to us considering he's doing voluntary observation in the first place and represents NOAA's meteorological network at this location. (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a regional office in Green Bay.)

"The best I can do," said John, "is to say that this January's average temperature ranked somewhere in the top ten of Januarys over the 67 years of recorded data.   It didn't quite make the top five.  The average January temperature of 1990 was 26.3 degrees."   John's data for January 2012 showed an average January temperature of 24.1 degrees.  So much for my thinking it was a record month for temperature.  

How about snowfall?   I've only shoveled twice, and that activity bordered on the unnecessary.  I was only looking for the exercise.  Our January snowfall was down, according to John's measurements:  9.9" of snow this year compared to the average of 14.8" of snow.  I thought as much.  Well, my hunch based on time-behind-shovel turned out to be correct.

We did set or tie two records, however, and that was the "Warmest night (highest low) of 30 degrees on 01/27.   Also, the warmest temperature for day 01/07 was recorded this year:  43 degrees.  

"One thing we can say," John noted, "is that when we take the two months of December and January combined, we've experienced milder than normal temperatures.  But just how that compares to other years, again I'm unable to make that comparison."

We hope the data access through NOAA loosens up a bit, for John's and our curiosity's sake if nothing else.

Meanwhile, the current forecast extending beyond Sunday shows daytime temperatures will once again climb to the mid-30s, without precipitation.   Snow cover, according to a Detroit Free Press article forwarded by Fred Hankwitz, which is considered the biggest source of water for the Great Lakes as a whole, remains low.  This lack of snow cover will effect the long term lake levels.  The Corps of Engineers forecasts levels to be initially higher in spring than last year, by 5-7 inches, but this will even out by June when it will remain close to 2011 levels.      

 -  Dick Purinton

LOAD 'N GO

Saturday's ferries - one arriving, one leaving

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Ideal October weather (upper 60s), light breeze from the SE, and lots of visitors in Door County brought traffic to the Island this morning.   With as many planned Peninsula and Island activities as any time of year, there are many choices to be made, including riding the ferry to Washington Island.

Temperatures were consistently warm, days sunny, and colors brilliant against blue skies all week long, once the high pressure filled in.  The official recorded weather for our area, as delivered to us by NOAA Island Weather Observer John Delwiche from September included the following (all within the last hours of the month as stormy weather passed over the area):
  *    1.08" for a 24-hour precipitation   (an island record for 9/30)
   *   Mid-lake waves measured  23-ft. for night of 9/29 to 9/30
  *    Peak wind gusts recorded at Northport NOAA tower:     64 mph at 9 pm, 9/29  
    (Sister Bay gust were recorded at 69 mph)

The damage from last week's winds caused widespread power outages, both on Washington Island and on the Door Peninsula, where poles that supplied the island were snapped.   The Northport road still shows many of the trees that were cut and shoved aside so that power could be more quickly restored.

Robert Cornell, our Island Electric Cooperative Manager, along with Mary Lynn Andersen, Randy Sorensen and Don Johnson, worked long hours Thursday night into Friday, into Saturday, and again Sunday, to restore island power to all but a few homes.  Those were reached by Monday and Tuesday.  With stand-by Co-op generators available, but downed lines too numerous, it was an impossibility to keep up with the outages as they occurred, which led to one of the longest outages remembered by islanders.

Long delays, ensuing customer frustration, and the desire by non-experts to peg the problems and solutions floated unfounded rumors.   Robert, I believe, answered all the important questions and more in a straight forward manner in a box holder mailed Friday to Island REA customers.  

His 4-page letter which went into considerable detail began with this paragraph:

    "The Washington Island Electric Cooperative would first like to thank all the members for their patience and understanding during the severe storm of September 29 and 30.  We would also like to thank the Town Crew, Officers McGrane and Schultz and members of the Washington Island Fire Department for their assistance.   The amount of damage done to our system was unprecedented at least in the last 10 years and likely significantly longer.  When you are working during a storm and there are trees and branches coming down around you as you work, these folks deserve extra thanks. We would also like to thank all those members who offered help, brought in food, and gave us encouraging comments during the storm."   


Robert's Cooperative Boxholder letter is well worth placing in a file for reading once again some day.   As frustrating as the outages were, and the inconveniences caused by them, in the end few (if any) vehicles or buildings were reported damaged, and most importantly, there were no personal injuries reported either here or on the Peninsula as a direct result of the storm, a rather remarkable fact considering the limbs flying and trees that were wholly uprooted.   Lots to be thankful for, in other words, including the hard work of the power company men in clearing trees and restoring downed power lines.

So, this week has been a tourism "gravy week" in many ways, with beautiful, consistent weather that's brought out visitors to enjoy the outdoors at its finest.

Today and Sunday the Island Farm Museum will have cider pressing, carmel apples (the best!) and wagon rides with Ted Hansen and his pair of Belgians.   Ted had them out exercising in the fields adjacent to the museum barns when we visited Thursday while his wagon was at Dave's Garage getting axles greased in preparation for the weekend.  

Here are a few photos of Ted, brother Ray who stopped by to visit, and his horses.   -  Dick Purinton