The roiling water of Leech Lake about an hour before the wind shifted and the rain came
This morning at 9:30 a.m. the temperature was a chilly 58 degrees, the wind was strong at 15-18 mph out of the NNW, with gusts up near 25 mph, and the sky was partly sunny. The lake was wild and covered in white caps. Since we're on the eastern side of Sucker Bay, a
westerly wind makes this side of the bay very rough.
As I looked out onto the back deck of the house to check the temperature, I noticed a dead
ruffed grouse by the floor-to-ceiling windows of our living room. It had obviously crashed into the window knocking itself out, and eventually died. I removed the bird from the deck and placed it in the woods where I'm sure some animal will find it and eat it. Grouse are great eating birds for humans too, and many people up here at Leech Lake hunt them, but I was not about to eat a dead bird.
The wind continued to blow hard throughout the morning and into early afternoon, picking up to 18-25 mph out of the WNW. The lake is now covered in white caps, and there are no boats in sight.
It's now 5:00 p.m. and the wind has actually gotten stronger! It's blowing a continuous 22-28 mph out of the WNW with gusts to 35-38 mph. The lake is angry and boiling with high waves and white caps. I went out onto the end of the dock to take a couple of pictures of the lake, and was nearly blown into the water. It was as if the wind was blowing back to the house. "Go inside. Stay warm, " the wind seemed to be saying.
At 6:00 p.m., the wind suddenly shifted and began blowing out of the north; although it didn’t lessen in strength at all. With the shift in wind direction came the rain. It wasn’t a hard rain, but with the force of the wind, it pelted the house, the windows and anything that happened to be in its way.
The sun set tonight shortly after 7:00 p.m., but it was nearly dark even earlier because of the dark clouds and rain. It's still raining now after 11:00 p.m., the temperature has dropped to 48 degrees and the wind has yet to let up.
I didn't get out on the lake today to do any fishing, and I have no idea if I'll have a chance to get out tomorrow or not. I've got various business calls that should keep me occupied until early afternoon. If the weather permits, I will get out sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening to fish for walleye and perch on Leech Lake.
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