Kelly Lake, Oconto County Wisconsin

Dick, nice water level comparison photos! But, relative…

Being here on the “deep side” of the lake, we noticed a slight increase of the water moving up our beach. The slope of the land going down into the water affords us deeper water and shorter docks; our dock is only 36′ long. That said, we recognized/realized probably only a foot-or-so of water creeping to the bank; probably only 2-3 inches vertical rise; speculation, of course; I didn’t set a benchmark.  It would be like pouring the same amount of water in a glass compared to pouring it on a plate; your end of the lake has less gradient.

As mentioned before, the water table, ground water and most important, the aquifer has to rise before the lake level sustains and contains water without perking down.  Now emphasis is being addressed to the surface water, which, until this time, wasn’t of concern in legislation.  WAL (Wisconsin Association of Lakes) is pursuing and pushing legislators to take in its importance.

I’ve included a recent one of the shoreline here, but no comparison from last year. From a guess, I’d say the water moved horizontally towards the bank about a foot-or-so.

I found this old photo in the archives. I recall the old-timers telling of water levels being way down; goes back to the Jack Ellis days and subsequent Lee Lake Dam project. The photo shows water well-away from the banks with weeds growing towards the lake (must have been low for a few, perhaps several years. Notice also the walkways added to the piers from shore.

Roger (Thanks for the photos; great comparison.)

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Spring water levels

Got to the lake last weekend. Lots more water

than at November

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Encore! Encore!

We want more of  another typical spring morning here at Kelly Lake; though, ‘typical’ might be an exaggeration!  Typical is rather, “If you don’t like the weather in Wisconsin, wait a minute… it’ll change!”  Anyway you look at it, we’ll take the fine spring weather.

Today’s forecast is quite nice, but the weekend forewarns of cloudy weather in the 50s with a chance of rain.

Yesterday took a while to get into the sun and pleasant weather forecasted; sun didn’t gave way to the clouds and lingering cold morning. But once it came out about 10 AM, we again enjoyed a pleasant day!

Here’s some photos taken this AM as the sun rose. Note the ducks feeding on shore and a gull in flight over steamy water.  Roger

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Just what you’d expect…

The last couple of days here at Kelly Lake are just what you would expect in spring: Spring’s prevailing north-easterlies, average temps, clear skies, birds singing, buds making their scene following the leaves maturing, migrating birds… just what you’d expect.

The wind was more than brisk yesterday, but less than last weekend. Still, it was strong, blowing up the leaves and the waves. Water temp for those want-to-get-out-there-skiing skiers like Craig Stangel, Chris VanZeeland, Mike Laurent and all ski aficionados is a fun-lovin’ 52-degrees! I should check on a remote water temp thermometer to interface with this site.

Last year’s unexpected lacking-any-semblance of spring was depressing if not frustrating (couldn’t get anything done outdoors; we didn’t even get the garden in). It seemed a mere gradual easing of winter right through summer, with summer catching up for three weeks starting Labor Day; and what a marvelous three weeks that was; almost forgot about the crumby spring/summer! Lucky we have short memories!

As I’ve said in the past, this has been a fantastic spring. It’s been colder along Lake Michigan; I’m all too aware of how long it takes the “big pond” people to get warmed up! I grew up in Two Rivers–a peninsula sticking out into Lake Michigan five miles; the “Coolest Spot In Wisconsin”, their motto!

They need any kind of westerly wind to have spring/summer-like weather blow their way. On the other hand, fall and winter cool and cold temps are diluted with “Lake effect” warmer waters blowing onshore.

Here’s the daily log from the archives of yesterday, the 21st.  I’ll be glad when you’ll be able to access all this info yourself, once configured and interfaced; just haven’t had time to study-up.

Today looks like we’ll see a return to pleasant weather and light winds. We’re painting just about everything that doesn’t move around here, and washing whatever does! Thus, a great day to get outside.  We had a low this AM of 29.8; there was frost on the “bumpkin”!

However , the weekend doesn’t look promising.  Weather west is full of clouds and showers headed our way; predicted to be around for a few days. We need rain badly here. Too bad it has to fall on a weekend. My dad always said I shouldn’t be so down and discouraged when gloom showed on the horizon. When it’s rainy and/or cold, you don’t have to feel guilty not getting outside and getting things done. I suppose that’s some consolation. Games, movies or a good book seems to help bolster one through. Enjoying them at the lake isn’t the worst. Have a good weekend. Roger

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“F1 me! Pleease, F1!

Weather was like summer yesterday, Tuesday. Temps reached mid-70s with plenty of sunshine.

Sat on the deck last night ’til about 9:30. Beautiful evening; if it were any better, I couldn’t stand it!

Woke up to cold mid-30s and brisk wind out of the northeast. Suppose to be partly cloudy with temps near 60 inland.

Entertainment for the day: That’s me in the water yelling out to Steve, the “Kelly Lake Webmeister”, somewhere! I went through another bout with my nemesis–Cam1! I got it back online yesterday sometime after 6 AM; walked away from the pc. In the afternoon I thought I’d better check it. Sure enough, it was down; went down at 6:29 AM! Screwed around troubleshooting and said “the dickens with it”! You can fill in an expletive you think I actually used!

Note: I’m not religious at checking the site; once or twice a day. If you notice the cam is down, email me at rjbirr@plbb.us . I check my email several times a day as I come and go.

Ergo. Rog and Steve:

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