Mild winter predicted for Michigan

You can take this with a rather large grain of salt, but Accuweather.com is predicting above average temperatures and around normal snowfall amounts. Don't go betting the farm that you'll be saving big bucks on your heating bills though. I don't put too much stock in the forecast for an entire season. There could be a month or so stretch of bitter cold weather such as we were blasted with last year. Sandwiched between super mild weather we had a mean go of it for 6-8 weeks.

This is disappointing news for my 3 year old and other snow lovers out there. It will be devastating to the winter tourism businesses such as ski hills throughout the state. Especially businesses in the U.P. who rely on snowmobilers to ride their trails, buy supplies, and stay at their hotels in order to stay in business.

Detroit News Article

Anxious for fall colors? Go north and enjoy!

The wonderful myriad of color will be reaching its peak on trees in portions of the U.P. in the next couple of weeks. The Mining Journal is reporting that an early hard frost is beneficial to fall color. So those of us waiting on the color to begin can always head up north for some beautiful scenery.

Bill Cook, district forester with the Michigan State University Extension forestry research station in Escanaba, said a hard frost about a week ago will likely result in brilliant colors.

“The earlier the frost comes the more sugars are trapped in the leaves and that’s what causes the brilliance and intensity of the colors,” Cook said.

For weekly updates on the fall color situation in Michigan be sure to check out the update put together at Michigan's Travel site - Michigan.org.

Crews continue to make progress in U.P. forest fire

The Sleeper Lake Forest Fire is estimated to be 67% contained and the chance of some more rain showers on Thursday would definitely be a help. Firefighters continue to battle the blaze with the help of marshmasters (they look like mini-tanks), three Blackhawk helicopters, and two CL-215 water bombing aircraft. Read today's Marquette Mining Journal article about the fire.

Will we sit by and watch the Great Lakes drain away?

An article in today's Detroit News states that -

The northern Great Lakes, particularly Huron and Michigan, are losing water three times faster through the St. Clair River than previously believed, according to a study released Tuesday by a private Canadian group.

Of course, there is talk of an international study that should be performed to back up the study by the Canadian group. Like all things government related they believe the study could be finished in 3-5 years.

Nothing like the urgency of low lake waters (Lake Superiors water levels are the lowest in 80 years) to get a study done in just 3-5 years. If changes made to the St. Clair River are indeed causing the upper Great Lakes water levels to drop can you imagine where they will be in 3-5 years.

I don't know about you, but I think it is rather important to find out if indeed man has caused the lower levels and find some solutions to it.

For more information on the Great Lakes check out this list of books at my Best of Michigan page.

U.P. forest fire is 50% contained

Officials are saying that the Sleeper Lake Fire is contained by a fire line along about 50% of the fire's perimeter. The total acres burnt are now up to 18,483. The fire is the U.P.'s largest in about 30 years and in order for the fire to be completely extinguished it will be up to nature to take its course and some time.

Read the full article about the current condition of the fire at the Mining Journal.

Free guide to Michigan's State Parks

Michigan has 97 state parks and recreation areas. That makes for a lot of opportunities for recreation that many other states just don't have. It also makes for a lot of information to go through when you try to decide to camp or stop at one of our state parks. Well, I created a lens at Squidoo on the Michigan State Parks that I hope parcels out enough information to help narrow down your search without overwhelming the user. For each of the state parks and recreation areas I provide campground details (if a campground is available) and the recreation activities that await visitors such as hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, and many others.

Each state park listing is provided with a link to a page with even more information about that park. Basically, my guide is a condensed highlight guide that you can scan much quicker than the full detail pages.

The Michigan State Parks are grouped geographically as follows - Upper Peninsula State Parks Northern Michigan State Parks Western Michigan State Parks Eastern Michigan State Parks

Visit the Michigan State Parks lens today.