windstorm. Some reason I decided to cut my trip one day short and exited the BWCA from the Island river and got lucky.
This weather could bring some nasty weather.

Yes I see it is 92 in Ely and 96 up the Gunflint right now. Even Ely's Kawishiwi river water temp reached a unheard of 82 degree F.

Also seen that they(NOAAA) figure it would take 8.5 inches of rain to get the BWCA out of the drought.

Recorded a high of 102 in Chik-Wauk bay on Saganaga lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail today.

Pinetree: "Recorded a high of 102 in Chik-Wauk bay on Saganaga lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail today."

I wonder what the humidity was? Geez, it was only 90 here today! I took a belt weather kit reading and the relative humidity was 24%.

At 830pm I see much of the humidity is like 45-65% in much of northern Minnesota, but for some reason I see Ely right now it is only 27%. Might be because many areas got some rain two days ago, but missed much of the BWCA.

I see the Gunflint was 96 degrees at Sea Gull and 92 already this morning. Wonder what the record is for a summer with 90 degrees that far north?
Yes on Sag one place had a 102 degrees yesterday again?

There is a risk for storms up there today too

I see the Kawishiwi river flow is 40% of normal and is just a trickle over the low observed since records kept there of 54 years. The low was in 1980 at 77 CFS. Its at 85 CFS now.

Must be all rocks below the Kawishiwi dam at Birch lake and Highway one. Anyone been by there lately?

I was there two week ago and it looked like a pretty good place to wreck your canoe.

I think with low water everywhere there will a lot of rocks with skid marks this year. Some years you see aluminum and various rainbow colors left by various color canoes.

Yeah we need like a solid week of rain. Seems like we have taken that for granted previous years. I hope no one makes a dumb decision before we get water.

x2jmorris: "Yeah we need like a solid week of rain. Seems like we have taken that for granted previous years. I hope no one makes a dumb decision before we get water."

Yes moisture content of dead wood must be almost zero. Instant flame with a tiny help.

Normally for me July means a great fireworks show downtown, family reunions, car shows, flea markets, time on the river and beaches, parades, live music in the clubs, small town celebrations including Lumberjack Days and this year a 45th High School Reunion. I’m always close to home in the heat of July and the memories sustain me through the shorter days. The heat always seems to add to these events.
This July is weird. It seems empty. Everything is cancelled and a heat wave with no end in sight grips Minnesota.
I decided to go somewhere cooler this Monday. I checked towns that are cool and Leadville Colorado came to mind because it’s at one of the highest altitudes of any city. The low last night was 39 degrees.
I called the USFS Ranger in town and she said there are some nice First come campsites and dispersed camping areas near alpine lakes and hiking trails. Maybe I can paddle.
Fire danger is extreme there too but I’m sure it will be an adventure.
I hope next July is back to normal with moderate summer temperatures, moist forests with less fire danger and less COVID-19.
Stay cool.

I’ve been intrigued the past few days how much warmer the temps up the Gunflint have been vs Ely.

I just cancelled a permit for Hog Creek for Monday. Was going to do a loop over and up through the number lakes, but was worried it might be too warm for my older dog to put up with. Maybe next week.

Pinetree: "windstorm. Some reason I decided to cut my trip one day short and exited the BWCA from the Island river and got lucky.
This weather could bring some nasty weather.

Yes I see it is 92 in Ely and 96 up the Gunflint right now. Even Ely's Kawishiwi river water temp reached a unheard of 82 degree F.

Also seen that they(NOAAA) figure it would take 8.5 inches of rain to get the BWCA out of the drought.

"

My thoughts exactly! It was regularly in the lower 90s the past three days on the Snowbank, Parent, Disappointment area. Campsites were all taken. I was supposed to stay in until tomorrow, but I decided to pull up stakes and head home early yesterday as even packing up my gear made me sweat profusely. Yuck!

Some of the marsh/ponds along the Fernberg road were reduced to mud puddles. I've never seen that.

HighnDry: "

Pinetree: "windstorm. Some reason I decided to cut my trip one day short and exited the BWCA from the Island river and got lucky.
This weather could bring some nasty weather.


Yes I see it is 92 in Ely and 96 up the Gunflint right now. Even Ely's Kawishiwi river water temp reached a unheard of 82 degree F.


Also seen that they(NOAAA) figure it would take 8.5 inches of rain to get the BWCA out of the drought.


"

My thoughts exactly! It was regularly in the lower 90s the past three days on the Snowbank, Parent, Disappointment area. Campsites were all taken. I was supposed to stay in until tomorrow, but I decided to pull up stakes and head home early yesterday as even packing up my gear made me sweat profusely. Yuck!


Some of the marsh/ponds along the Fernberg road were reduced to mud puddles. I've never seen that."

I am not a fan of camping in this heat, especially if I am portaging a lot and traveling long distances and it gets hard to fish much of the day. Yes base camp and take it easy mid day and swim. Good for families who want to swim and take it easy.

I see the next 14 days suppose to be 8-10 degrees above normal and best chance of rain is the next 4 days, otherwise fairly dry.

Blueberry crop must be drying up, except for the bog blueberries.

For all of you who are reporting various temps at various lakes - what is the link of the weather forecasts your are getting?

OneMatch: "For all of you who are reporting various temps at various lakes - what is the link of the weather forecasts your are getting?"

I use two different ones NOAA-the one you see at most forestry permit stations NOAA

and Underground

I found this one after following some of Pinetrees clues earlier on this thread. Much better than looking at GM. Seagull station

Jaywalker: "I found this one after following some of Pinetrees clues earlier on this thread. Much better than looking at GM. Seagull station "

Yes I like that and have it bookmarked to see what the daily temp is up the Gunflint.

This is from the superior National Forest US Forest service:
Wildfires on the Superior NF - Late in the day on July 4th, four wildfires were reported/detected on the west zone of the Superior NF, three within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in St. Louis County and one outside of the BWCAW in Lake County. Several thunderstorm cells developed and redeveloped with lightning activity while passing through northeastern Minnesota. The Sundial Fire is approximately 8 acres in size and burning in a remote area of the BWCAW south of Iron Lake on the LaCroix Ranger District. The 212 and 213 Fires are each 0.10 of an acre and located north/northeast of Trout Lake and north of Lake Vermilion on the La Croix Ranger District. The Independence Fire is 1 acre in size and located near Birch Lake south of Ely on the Kawishiwi Ranger District.

Are they taking any action on these fires or are they let burn?

MHS67: "Are they taking any action on these fires or are they let burn?"

Late in the day Saturday, four wildfires were detected on the west zone of the Superior National Forest. Several thunderstorms passed through the area with lightning activity according to a report Sunday from the U.S. Forest Service.
The largest fire was 8 acres in size and burning in a remote area of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Sundial Primitive Management Area, approximately 3.5 miles south of Iron and Crooked Lakes the Canadian border. Four aircraft dropped water on burning jack pines on Saturday evening and a 12-person firefighting crew, along with up to three helicopters, was set to be inserted near the fire Sunday to take "suppression action" according to the report.
Two fires are 1/10 of an acre and located north and northeast of Trout Lake and north of Lake Vermilion. Both are anticipated to single-tree lightning strikes and fire crews will travel on Sunday to suppress both fires.
The last fire is 1 acre in size and burning near Birch Lake, south of Ely. Two Forest Service engines and the Morse Township Fire Department responded to the fires Saturday afternoon and worked through the night. Crews have successfully held the fire and continued to work on suppression Sunday.
There are no fire specific forest closures at this time, but visitors should continue to be aware of the dry conditions and expect to see aircraft being used for fire response.

At least no derecho's forecasted, or popped up, yet!

Glad to here they are not taking any chances and suppressing the fires. Sounds like you guys are having quite the dry spell!

We came out of Lac la Croix on the 3rd and it was HOT! Miserable hot and I'm from Alabama..home of heat and humidity!