Phenology

Observations by Gary Fewless for Green Bay WI (Lat.N 44.51° Long. W 88.02° ), except as noted. For flowers lacking conspicuous petals or sepals I define "anthesis" as release of pollen by mature anthers.

February 2004

Observations by Gary Fewless, except as noted

tree.

Date	Observation (Click on links for photos)
Feb 29	Red-winged Blackbirds and Robins return; local Canada geese very active for the first time this year, Manitowoc County, Town of Cooperstown (Joel Trick). Leap year day (leap day?). High temperature of 50° F in Green Bay is the warmest since November 30. Conspicuous decrease in snowcover. Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles were active outdoors today, City of Green Bay (Mike Draney).
Feb 28	Flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds return to the Green Bay area, along with Starlings, Cowbirds, Grackles, Robins and Killdeer, Allouez and City of Green Bay. Sand Hill Cranes, Calumet County (Katie Hemauer).
Feb 27	Killdeer, Brown County (Katie Hemauer).
Feb 26	Some flower buds of silver maple are beginning to swell in the Green Bay area. For the last 3-4 days there have been cautious reports of small numbers of singing Red-winged Blackbirds in southern Wisconsin and a few reports of Sandhill Cranes too.
Feb 24	The earliest skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) plants are in flower (anthesis), Brown County. These are the earliest plants on spring-fed sites that don't freeze. Plants on less favorable sites may not flower for several weeks. There is still about 6 inches of heavy, wet snow on the ground on UWGB, but the high temperature has been above freezing since the 18th so it is melting steadily, and mid-30's to low 40's are predicted through the weekend (28th-29th). Dense fog in the Green Bay area in the morning.
Feb 23	Today's high temperature of 37 F and low of 33 resulted in the first day that did not fall below freezing since Dec 28 (low of 36) and only the 3rd day that did not fall below freezing since November 22.
Feb 22	Chipmunks out and about on UWGB (Bob Howe). High temperature of 37 F in Green Bay today (and yesterday too) and some melting of snow. We received 3.1 inches of snow in Green Bay since the 19th and enough rain and sleet to produce a total of 0.78 inches of precipitation (total rain and snow as water).
Feb 19	Over the last week or so singing Cardinals have become conspicuous in the City of Green Bay.
Feb 18	Today's high temperature of 40° F in Green Bay is the first day that rose above freezing since Jan 12th (37 days) and it is the highest temperature since December 30th. The high temperature of 48 F in Wausau tied the record for this date. Chipmunks out and about, Pensaukee (Tom Erdman).
Feb 17	Winter is still in force, but if averages count for anything it is nearing its end. On average the main snow cover is off the ground in Green Bay by the end of the first week in March--about 3 weeks from now. Of course if you live in Wisconsin you know that the melting of the winter snow does not mean we will not have more new snow in March. Last year we received 7 inches of new snow in the first 8 days of March and another 2.1 inches before the end of the month. In 2002 we received 17.1 inches of snow in March. Still, there is reason to hope and if it doesn't work out the skiing should be good.
Feb 16	Green Bay has not been above freezing for the last 35 days, since January 12th (although the high temperature did reach 32 F twice during that time). Rhinelander has not been above freezing since January 3rd.
Feb 15	This morning's low temperature of -13 F is the 16th day of zero or below this winter.
Feb 10	Snow cover is 14 inches in Green Bay . The peak was 15 inches on Feb 7.
Feb 09	Wisconsin DNR reports that 2003 produced the third largest deer harvest--a total of 483,000 deer. The estimate before the Fall deer season placed the total number of deer in Wisconsin at 1.4 million, so there are still nearly 1 million deer left at the end of the year. The extremely high deer population is put in perspective by noting that the second highest harvest was in 1999 and the highest in 2000. Fear over chronic wasting disease (CWD) reduced the number of hunters and the harvest in 2002.
Feb 06	Green Bay received 7.8 inches of snow last night and this morning. Snow was heavier to the south and lighter to the north--Rhinelander received only 1 inch. Winter sports enthusiasts are taking advantage of the best snow conditions of the winter.
Feb 03	The water level in Lake Michigan was up about 2.5 inches in January 2004, compared to January 2003. That is still about 1.6 feet below the long-term average.
Feb 01	January was a fairly cold month in Green Bay. The temperature did not rise above freezing from Jan 17 (when the high reached 32° F) through the end of the month. January 22 was arguably the coldest day, when the daily high temperature was 0° F. Eleven days fell below 0 for the low temperature and the lowest temperature was -14 F. There was a total of 16.3 inches of snow.