The first weekend of the October saw us in the Big South Fork country enjoying a dramatic change in weather. The first day was warm and sunny, but as evening set, the winds increased and rustled the treetops throughout the night. The morning was overcast, mild, and as we began our descent into the Big South Fork at Blue Heron, the sky thickened into sweeping rolls of stratocumulus clouds.
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Big South Fork, NRRA
Big South Fork in Early Fall
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Rock Creek Loop, a cool summer hike
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Big South Fork Map
Distance: 6.6 Miles round-trip
Difficulty: ++
Scenic Views: +++
Elevation Relief: 520ft ^
Ownership: Big South Fork, NPS
| Big South Fork Trail Map: $12 |
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Hike the scenic crossroads of the John Muir Trail and Sheltowee Trace. Rock Creek Loop is a 6.6-mile loop in our Big South Fork Guide. Half of this loop follows the cool waters of Rock Creek, a trout stream with small stretches of swift water and deep pools for summer refreshment.
Hikers weave through a forest dominated by old, stately Hemlock and American Beech trees with grassy, wildflower areas along the stream bank. The trail is a rugged footpath with a bridge across Massey Branch. Numerous backcountry campsites along the loop offer great weekend backpacking options with side trail options into Pickett State Park and the Daniel Boone National Forest.
El Niño to make the mountains colder and drier this winter
Sunday, October 18th, 2009Predicting climate in the old days relied upon observing cues in nature. The Farmers’ Almanac finds that people looked at woolly worms in late summer in get a sense of winter. The more black hairs on the worm, the colder and wetter the winter. Of course woolly worms come in all configurations of black and orange colorings so how could a worm’s coat predict winter? It can as an analogy; you look at the forecast to decide which coat you’re going to wear before leaving home. I think you would want to wear a black coat as opposed to a white coat on a very cold and sunny day to maximize the amount of solar energy you could absorb. Woolly worms just plan far ahead.
Today we track global changes in wind patterns and sea surface temperatures to predict weather conditions. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has issued a climate forecast for this winter based on the El Niño pattern emerging in the Pacific Ocean.
Below are winter predictions for the U.S. indicating greater or lesser chances for departures in average winter temperatures and precipitation.
El Niño is a departure from average sea surface temperatures created by a change in the intensity and direction of equatorial winds. In a normal period, strong easterly trade winds blow across the Pacific and upwell cold, nutrient rich waters on the west coast of South America. These same winds also pile up water in the western Pacific so that the sea surface is about 2 feet higher at Indonesia than at Ecuador.
In an El Niño cycle, the winds are not as intense and warmer sea surface temperatures extend further to east. This change has a global impact on weather with increased precipitation on the west coast of South America and the south & east coasts of North America. Warmer than normal conditions also occur at higher latitudes in North America and over the Pacific ocean.
El Niño Sea Surface Temperatures in °C
Sept 12: Sheltowee Trace Meeting in Winchester
Thursday, August 20th, 2009The Future of the Trace: Sept 12, 2009
Join a group of trail enthusiasts and forest & park officials at the Daniel Boone NFS headquarters in Winchester to discuss the future of the Sheltowee Trace. We need as many committed folks as possible to attend. Voice your support for the Sheltowee Trace.
If you would like to attend, you can RSVP here with a comment so we can plan for breakfast and lunch!
Time: 9:30am
Where: Clark County Extension Office (map below)
1400 Fortune Dr
Winchester, KY 40391-8292
(859) 744-4682
Preliminary Agenda
9:30 to 10:00 – Meet and Greet – Coffee, Juice and Bagels, Donuts provided.
10:00 Opening Comments
- Frank Beum, Forest Supervisor, Daniel Boone National Forest
- Steve Handley, Big South Fork National Recreational Area, National Park Service
- Carey Tichenor, Ky State Parks and Recreation
- Steve Barbour, Interim Executive Director, The Sheltowee Trace Association
10:30 – Updates on the Current Condition of The Trace in each Ranger District and Plans for the next 12 to 24 months
10:45 – Current Management Plan Development
- Federal and State Funding Levels
- Challenges of a Muti-use Trail
- Current on-going volunteer programs
- Short Term and Long Term Maintenance Issues
- Trace Blazing – Signage
- Land Acquisition
- Trace Relocation
- Maintaining Easements
- Development of the Volunteer Base
- Promoting The Trace across the state
Following these discussion will be a session on forming the Sheltowee Trace Association, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting this National Recreation Trail.
Map:Here
Rainy May: on track to be the wettest May ever
Friday, May 8th, 2009Spring is typically a wet month. However over the past week, Eastern Kentucky has experienced unusual rainfall amounts. The record for the month is 10.78 inches in 2004; and no other year has been above 10 inches for May. The only year that saw over 9 inches of rainfall for May was in 1995. May during 1983 and 1984 were the only times over 7 inches of rainfall.
From the National Weather Service in Jackson, Kentucky:
"2 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY DURING THE MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS OF INTEREST...SINCE WE ARE ONLY ABOUT ONE QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH THE MONTH. HEAVY RAINFALL IS VERY POSSIBLE AS WE HEAD INTO MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND AND COULD PUSH RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP ANOTHER INCH OR TWO. THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MAY AT THE JACKSON WEATHER OFFICE IS 4.92 INCHES. WE HAVE ALL READY RECORDED 4.12 INCHES OF RAINFALL AS OF THIS MORNING AT 7AM. IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL ...BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY ON TRACK TO HAVE ONE OF THE RAINIEST MAYS EVER. THE RAINIEST MAY OCCURRED IN 2004 WHEN THE JACKSON WEATHER OFFICE RECORDED 10.78 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS THE ONLY MONTH OF MAY THAT OVER TEN INCHES OF RAIN FELL. MAY OF 1995 HAD 9.91 INCHES AND WAS THE ONLY MONTH WITH OVER 9 INCHES RECORDED. THE NEXT HIGHEST TOTALS WERE OVER 7 INCHES AND THAT OCCURRED IN ONLY TWO YEARS...1983 AND 1984. HERE ARE RAINFALL TOTALS FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY COOPERATIVE WEATHER STATIONS AND AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEMS AS OF 7 AM EDT...FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2009.
LOCATION / COUNTY / PRECIPITATION
BARBOURVILLE KNOX 4.38 INCHES BAXTER HARLAN 3.85 INCHES BEATTYVILLE 4N LEE 3.68 INCHES BIG SHELBY PIKE 3.01 INCHES BOONEVILLE 1SE OWSLEY 4.49 INCHES BUCKHORN LAKE PERRY 2.80 INCHES CARR CREEK LAKE KNOTT 2.73 INCHES CAVE RUN LAKE ROWAN 2.28 INCHES CLAY CITY 1WNW POWELL 2.77 INCHES CLOSPLINT 4ESE HARLAN 4.55 INCHES COLO PULASKI 3.98 INCHES CRESSY ESTILL 2.59 INCHES DRAFFIN PIKE 3.54 INCHES EZEL MORGAN 3.31 INCHES GIMLET ELLIOTT 2.60 INCHES HARLAN 1S HARLAN 3.80 INCHES HARLAN STATE POLICE HARLAN 2.95 INCHES HAZARD WATER PERRY 3.71 INCHES HAZARD PERRY 3.70 INCHES HAZARD STATE POLICE PERRY 2.95 INCHES HEIDELBERG 2N LEE 4.05 INCHES BAXTER HARLAN 3.85 INCHES INEZ 2E MARTIN 3.78 INCHES ISLAND CITY OWSLEY 5.16 INCHES IVEL FLOYD 2.27 INCHES NWS JACKSON BREATHITT 4.12 INCHES JEREMIAH 1S LETCHER 3.11 INCHES KINGDOM COME ST PARK HARLAN 3.12 INCHES LONDON CORBIN APT LAUREL 4.46 INCHES MONTICELLO 3NE WAYNE 4.00 INCHES MOUNT STERLING 5N MONTGOMERY 2.41 INCHES MOUNT VERNON ROCKCASTLE 2.77 INCHES ONEIDA CLAY 4.54 INCHES PAINTSVILLE 1E JOHNSON 3.55 INCHES PIKEVILLE ST POLICE PIKE 2.05 INCHES PRESTONSBURG 3NW FLOYD 4.09 INCHES QUICKSAND BREATHITT 3.52 INCHES RELIEF MORGAN 3.18 INCHES ROGERS WOLFE 2.82 INCHES SALYERSVILLE MAGOFFIN 4.28 INCHES SANDY HOOK ELLIOTT 2.67 INCHES SKYLINE LETCHER 3.20 INCHES SLADE 5NE POWELL 2.86 INCHES SOMERSET 2N PULASKI 3.74 INCHES STANTON 2W POWELL 2.88 INCHES STEARNS 2S MCCREARY 5.09 INCHES VICTORY 5NW LAUREL 4.13 INCHES WEST LIBERTY 3NW MORGAN 2.67 INCHES WEST LIBERTY 11NW MORGAN 2.57 INCHES WHITESBURG LETCHER 2.50 INCHES WHITESBURG 2SE LETCHER 3.21 INCHES WILLIAMSBURG 1NW WHITLEY 5.14 INCHES
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT JACKSON WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE DEDICATED COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVERS FOR THEIR TIMELY REPORTS."