Leelanau.com Blog
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It's 74 degrees with light rain after some early thundershowers at 8:10 AM at Leelanau Coffee Roasting in Glen Arbor. The record high for a September 1st was 96 in 1953 with the record low of 40 set in 1991. Rain is likely today, maybe with a thunderstorm with highs around 80. Rain & wind is in the picure for tomorrow too. The Labor Day Weekend forecast looks a little worse today with partly sunny skies, a chance of showers and ripping west winds on Friday (gusting up to 45), partly sunny and upper 60s on Saturday and sun and 70 on Sunday and upper 70s on Monday.

Photo credit: Victoria Creek Park, Cedar, MI, July, 2010 by Tom Powell

Coming Events

Port Oneida Run/Walk (Sep 4), Lake Leelanau Barbecue & Blues Festival (Sep 5), Sleeping Bear bike tours (ongoing), Leelanau Farmer's Markets (ongoing)

Check the Leelanau Calendar for more!  You can add your events to the calendar for FREE! Not only will they be distributed with our weekly newsletter, but they may be a featured story on Leelanau.com!

Week's Weather

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from August 2009.

Weather Resources

Weather Underground is just about as old as the internet (the first net weather service) and is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sometimes the above banner will show personal weather system data from Leelanau Coffee in Glen Arbor, sometimes from Leland and sometimes it comes from a vineyard on Old Mission (it tells you which in the top left of the page it links to).

Buoy 45002 in Lake Michigan is located halfway between North Manitou Island and Washington Island in Lake Michigan. It provides wind and wave data. Also check out Michigan Sea Grant Coastwatch for water temps (the "early evening" images in their archive will give you a better idea of actual temps during peaks swimming hours … in seasons where you might actually want to swim!).

Mark gets a rare back-to-back feature on the Leelanau Almanac for this amazing shot of South Manitou Island. Be sure to check this out bigger and post your comments and thoughts about the week and what you're seeing & doing below!

Mark took this shot of the DH Day Barn in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Wednesday. Be sure to check this out background bigtacular and see more shots from the Lakeshore in his slideshow!

You can get your photos featured on Leelanau.com if you add them to the Leelanau (dot com) pool on Flickr!

This photo of the Sleeping Bear Dunes by Bean in Sylvan Lake is available background bigtacular .

Post your thoughts about the weather or week's news below!!

I know that we are using one of crlitberg's photos on the almanac this week. When I saw this one, an immediate feeling of peace came over me. I knew that I had to use it for our Friday Photo. Be sure to view Sundown on Lake Michigan in the larger size, and check out crlitberg's photostream.

KAScott_20100121_9842b by Ken Scott

downstreamer has some great winter beach shots, like this one P1000553. Check them out at downstreamer's photostream on flickr.

Mill Creek in Fall by Pentax K1000 Gal

Where is your favorite fall spot in Leelanau? I agree with Pentax Gal with her choice of Mill Creek in Northport. Please be sure to check out here other photos in her flickr slideshow.

This week Leelanau.com had a couple interesting feature stories. Cougar siting have been common in northern Michigan. Take a look at the photos in the Leelanau Cougar story, and judge for yourself. Autumn in Leelanau County. Cherie also graced us with her beautiful writing in the story Autumn in Leelanau County. Don't miss Marshall & Mary Collins' Fried Chicken Dinner benefit for the Northport Promise on Sunday, October 18. And we showed how even storms are beautiful in Leelanau on Photo Friday: Stormy weather by danenmolly

Week's Weather

Fall colors are starting out slow this season. Currently only patches of color, with red, yellows, and russets.

Oct 6: Rainy & 50 (54/44)
Oct 5: Partly sunny & 55 (57/41)
Oct 4: Cloudy & 54 (54/48)
Oct 3: Mostly cloudy & 54 (54/44)
Oct 2: Cloudy & 50 (50/44)
Oct 1: Partly sunny & 55 (55/30)

Post your comments about the week's news, observations of the weather or the natural world or events below!

You'll also want to check out the Leelanau Calendar and the latest news and features from Leelanau, Traverse City and the surrounding area in our blog! Here's October 2008 archive, and Leelanau Almanac for the Week of September 24 – September 30.

Autumn in Leelanau County has about as much charm as Antonio Banderas in an Armani suit…which is to say, plenty and how. The air is crisp as green apple, cider flows like rivers and grapevines heavy with labor, anticipate the ease of their burden. Driving along county roads you will notice pumpkins prime for picking. Look up and see deciduous forests revealing, over and over, the breadth of their majesty: orange and gold, umber and scarlet–rainbows reaching for the sky and explosions of color stretch towards the waning sun.

On a sunny day, hiking at Pyramid Point along the lake shore or at Woolsey Lake in the woods of Northport transports you from a hectic life to immediate serenity. The birds sing their last goodbyes to friends not suited for cold. The squirrels and rabbits rustle in the trees, scurrying to save up. Acorns are dripping from trees. Still, it's just you and the animals, too busy to pay you mind. Nearer to the lake, maybe you hear the waves hitting the shore. Look up, a bald eagle!

There are gusty days, too, for what charisma lacks suspense? Lake Michigan is sleepy on some autumnal days, the waves lap at the shore, one after another, after another, pausing. Last week, however, the waves ravaged the shoreline and at Van's Beach in Leland, there were three adventurers kite boarding and surfing amid of the fury. The entire scene reminded me of snorkeling in Hawaii, when I came upon a great manta ray, maybe 12 feet long, skimming the sea floor the same measure below me. A moment of great silence and awe. Back in Leland, the kites were dancing and twirling, silently, in the blustery air, swirling and twirling ballet dancers moving to a Beethoven symphony in a measured time invisible to the ear. Poor weather, I hear some say. Not poor at all. Grab a jacket and see the show.

All seasons are splendid in Leelanau, but autumn is particularly divine. Like your living room, after the guests leave, it is lush with space–room to breathe–with all the familiarity of a summer's day wrapped in a woolly sweater, holding a mug of warm cider. Drink it up. Drink it up. Imbibe the flavors of fall in Northern Michigan until the sweet memory of abundance holds on your taste buds. Winter is coming, but for today, remember to feast.

The photos are Crystal River by jsorbieus and Kiteboarding IV by farlane. Speaking of "feast", feast your eyes on this Fall slideshow from the Leelanau (dot com) pool on Flickr! (more…)