The Green Bay area has had warm temperatures over the last several days (high temperature on 8 of the last 9 days falling between 37 and 49F) and we have also had about 1/2 inch of rain. The Fox River, which was largely ice-covered at the Highway 172 bridge, is now completely open. The East River and the ponds at UWGB are still ice-covered, but the ice is thin and it is covered with a layer of water (Gary Fewless).

We have had about 0.2 inches of snow in December to date and there is no snow cover on the ground.

Wisconsin DNR reports that the late "T zone" harvest of antlerless deer (Dec 12-15) recorded 2658 deer taken, for a total t zone harvest of 30,334. The number is lower than that for last year, but is not easily comparable, because the area of the t zone hunt is not the same each year.

Wisconsin DNR reports that most of Wisconsin is snow-free, with some exceptions in the far north and Door County. Northern counties report that Snowshow Hares have turned white.

WIDNR also reports that ice depth on lakes is highly variable, ranging from 0 to 6 inches (to 10 inches in far north). People are urged to use caution and expect that ice depth may be variable, even on different areas of the same lake.

There are still reports of the Brant (an unusual goose for our area) in the Depere and Green Bay areas near the Fox River. High temperature of 46F.

This insect was flying on the UWGB campus today. It is the same insect shown in our "photo of the week" in November 2000.

A high temperature of 47F in Green Bay. Average high temperature for this date is 31 and the record high temp is 51.

The warm weather has brought out a true bug (Hemiptera) on the sidewalk (Matt Welter) Neville Public Museum.

With the onset of the recent coldspell, cedar waxwings have established their winter flock near between the railroad track and the veteran's park, Broadway District, Green Bay (Matt Welter).

There were several other reports of (unnamed) insects flying today in the City of Green Bay.

Much of lower Green Bay is ice-covered. The mouth of the Fox River remains open and attracts numerous Canada Geese and various ducks, including Common Mergansers and Lesser Scaup (the last shown in the linked photo).

Last year the high temperature on this date was 64F!

WIDNR reports that approximately 10% fewer deer were harvested during this year's gun deer season as compared to last year's hunt. Among the early returns of information is one deer testing positive for CWD in Grant County, adjacent to the area already known to be infected. A correction from early reports lists the number of deer submitted for sampling as 36,000.

Sports enthusiasts are reminded that although many lakes are now ice-covered, none are likely to be safe for vehicles and even those venturing out on foot should exercise caution. There is no snow cover in the Green Bay area and generally thin cover elsewhere, except in the far north and in a few areas along Lake Michigan where lake effect snows fell recently.

The Wisconsin gun deer season ended yesterday. License sales were only about 10% below last year's level and therefore much better than predicted, as game managers feared that concerns over CWD (chronic wasting disease) would dramatically reduce the number of hunters. The number of deer taken by hunters is not yet known, but appears to be lower than last year. Results from tests of about 32,000 deer will provide insight into the prevalence and distribution of CWD in Wisconsin.