Unwinter

November 27th through December 3rd

At the start of last week, the progression of the seasons continued on an inevitable Fall to Winter vector. Other lakes had frozen over, ice was starting to build in the cold corners of Lucerne, and driving the drone resulted in painfully cold fingers. Later in the week, that changed.

The ice reached out about 25 feet in the niches and shallow bays before the change. No ice fishermen pushed their luck by setting shacks on the shelf. That's too bad. It would have been entertaining.

Midweek the sun came out and the wind came in hard from the South. The air temperature pushed into the 40s (�F), albeit the low 40s. The ice suffered and was mostly gone by sunset. Ice-in would not happen on Lake Lucerne this November.

The wind and warmish air pushed back the ice on local lakes that had previously iced in. Over the hill to the East, Devils Lake showed signs of opening up. Further to the East, there were reports of open water on Lakes Wabikon and Riley.

The patches of ice that dotted the surface of Lake Lucerne Drive and other roads was gone by the weekend.

Wild life became more active during the warm. The hyper-kinetic squirrels and birds made it seem more like September rather than December.

Sunsets during the warm period were nothing short of spectacular.

Nights were well lit by a waxing monkey moon (we know, it's "gibbous" not "gibbonous", but it's phonetically close enough to justify the alliterative term. That, and it makes us laugh. Monkey moon, heh.)

Many nights dipped below freezing. This seems to have pushed the lake temperature down to a weak 37�F.

For the second year in a row, the lake area has experienced the rare sub-season of Unwinter. Tucked between Thanksgiving and the Snowpocalypse, Unwinter is characterized by open water, melting snow, occasional rain, and grumpy ice fishermen. Because of the limited amount of daylight, energy drinks and ibuprofen are not required to fully take advantage of Unwinter. The only issue, other than the grump emanating from ice fishers and some snow-goers, is the fleeting nature of the sub-season. It can be over faster than one can utter polar vortex. Forecasts are calling for the return of Winter this week, but Unwinter was nice while it lasted.<br><br>-Nemo didn't ski under the waxing monkey moon, heh heh.