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.

December 2004

Observations by Gary Fewless, except as noted

Date	Observation (Click on links for photos)
Dec 31	A high temperature of 48° F yesterday plus light rain quickly melted the snow in Green Bay. A high today of 48 again continues the warm trend. Most level open areas are snow-free now, although we have icy conditions from freezing rain.
Dec 29	Temperatures into the upper 20's. There appears to be about 6 inches of snow, as shown in the Oak opening on UWGB's Cofrin Arboretum. Highs in the 40's and rain are predicted for tomorrow. Last year at this time Green Bay had no snow as temperatures for December were about 6.8 degrees warmer than the long term average.
Dec 27	Low of -7 F and high of 25. Green Bay got another 0.6 inches of snow.
Dec 26	Low temperature -3 F, high of 23.
Dec 25	Green Bay received about 0.4 inches of snow today. High temperature 15° F, low temperature 0 F.
Dec 24	Christmas Eve. The low temperature was -15° F and the high temperature was 0°. There is good snow cover now for the skiers, etc.
Dec 23	Lower Green Bay is ice-covered as far as I can see from the UWGB library. The low temperature in Green Bay was -6° F
Dec 22	This is our coldest day of the year to date. The low temperature in Green Bay was -3° F and the high was 10. Rhinelander's low was -15. Click here for a graph of GB temperatures for Dec.
Dec 21	Yesterday's snow continues this morning in Green Bay (another 1.2 inches after midnight for a total of 8.8 inches for the storm that began yesterday). On the 19th there was no snow cover on the ground and today it looks like this. Here's what the same site looked like one week ago (Dec 14), and the same site last July 23. Here is a composite of all three dates together.
Dec 20	Snow began accumulating about 7 a.m. and continued most of the day with considerable blowing and drifting in the afternoon. The temperature was about 6° F at midnight and rose to about 21 during the day. It may not be officially winter yet, but it's close enough for me. [GB received 7.6 inches of snow on 12/20 and it continued into the 21st]
Dec 19	Today's low temperature of 0° F is the lowest of the season to date. The daily high temperature was 13° F.
Dec 18	Today's low temperature of 5° F is the lowest of the season to date.
Dec 13	Overnight low temperatures were in the mid-teens last night. There has been partial thin ice over the last couple of weeks, but this is the first day for full ice cover on the East River in Allouez. The average date to freeze (and stay frozen) over the last 14 years was Dec 5, the earliest was Nov 12 and the latest was Dec 24, a range of 42 days. The average date for the ice to open up is March 22 (over the last 19 years), for an average ice covered period of 107 days. UWGB's Prairie Pond is also fully ice-covered today. After several light ice coverings that melted, the forecast suggests that this ice cover will persist. Both the Easts River and Prairie Pond would probably have frozen yesterday, except for the strong winds. There is no snow cover on the ground in Green Bay, but north of Highway 64 there are 1-3 inches with a high of 10 inches at Rhinelander. Great Gray Owl hunting along highway 64 about a mile west of county T in northwest Oconto County at 4:00 pm. Perched low in a tree for a good look. Nicolet National Forest, Oconto County (Steve Janke).
Dec 12	Strong winds persist in eastern Wisconsin. Yesterday's winds averaged about 20 MPH with gusts to 43 MPH. There were large waves on Green Bay today. First Common redpoll of the season at my feeders. It was in a mixed flock of Pine siskins and American goldfinches. Elton, Langlade County (Steve Janke).
Dec 08	In spite of several days of mild temperatures there is still ice cover on local ponds and small lakes, but larger lakes still have open water. WI DNR warns those impatient to begin ice fishing to be careful, even on the northern lakes.
Dec 07	Eastern Wisconsin is essentially snow-free, except for areas where it was plowed into deeper piles or in shaded areas of some forests. Far northern Wisconsin has up to 10 inches of snow on the ground, but that is very local. Rains today will reduce any remaining snow. GB received 0.34 inches of rain. UWGB's Prairie Pond has a thin coating of ice, but it is covered with water due to recent rains.
Dec 06	Green Bay received 3.5 inches of snow today--our first substantial snowfall of the season.
Dec 04	Another light snow in Green Bay this morning and then rain. High temterature of 46° F.
Dec 03	This morning's low temperature was 12 F in Green Bay, our coldest temperature of the season to date.
Dec 02	Just enough snow (0.2 inches) to make the roads and short lawns white, plus a little freezing rain in Green Bay.
Dec 01	Wisconsin DNR reports that about 303,000 deer were taken during the recent 9 day gun hunting season. That is approximately the same number as last year. The total will be somewhat higher when the archery season and various other hunts have been added to the total. The number of deer hunting licenses sold is 649,955, to date.