I'm sitting at my desk on a cozy Saturday morning in February, hearing the soft dribble of raindrops on my living room windows. Wait . . . what? It’s February, Alaska. This is winter. But apparently not this year.
The National Weather Service Forecast Office says Anchorage has had twenty inches of snow this winter. That’s about a third of what we normally have at this point. And we've so often had temps above freezing that pretty much all we've seen for months now is a crusty layer of ice (it can hardly be called snow). I pity the teenagers having to take to the roads in driver's education this winter.
I did some research on snowfall records in past years, and I found some interesting data HERE and HERE. I'm holding out hope that we'll have a redo of the following: in corner number one, winter of 2002-2003! In corner number two, winter of 2003-2004. Weighing in at a measly 36.8 inches, winter number one clearly stood no chance against its neighbor, winter number two, who weighed in at a whopping 113.9 inches and won a place in the top-five record winters for snowfall! Granted, we still have a few winter months left and could potentially get a good dump of snow, but I foresee another bottom-five record with all the warm fronts that seem to be moving in.
Since our snowshoes are languishing in storage, and our most useful item has become ice cleats, my husband and I went exploring on the trails by our house. Besides sliding around on our bums and nearly falling down a few cliff edges, we had a pleasant walk. I savored the air that once again smelled of thawing life. Winter has its own smell, but every year I forget the sweet, earthy flavor of the air when things start warming up again.
The National Weather Service Forecast Office says Anchorage has had twenty inches of snow this winter. That’s about a third of what we normally have at this point. And we've so often had temps above freezing that pretty much all we've seen for months now is a crusty layer of ice (it can hardly be called snow). I pity the teenagers having to take to the roads in driver's education this winter.
I did some research on snowfall records in past years, and I found some interesting data HERE and HERE. I'm holding out hope that we'll have a redo of the following: in corner number one, winter of 2002-2003! In corner number two, winter of 2003-2004. Weighing in at a measly 36.8 inches, winter number one clearly stood no chance against its neighbor, winter number two, who weighed in at a whopping 113.9 inches and won a place in the top-five record winters for snowfall! Granted, we still have a few winter months left and could potentially get a good dump of snow, but I foresee another bottom-five record with all the warm fronts that seem to be moving in.
Since our snowshoes are languishing in storage, and our most useful item has become ice cleats, my husband and I went exploring on the trails by our house. Besides sliding around on our bums and nearly falling down a few cliff edges, we had a pleasant walk. I savored the air that once again smelled of thawing life. Winter has its own smell, but every year I forget the sweet, earthy flavor of the air when things start warming up again.
The squirrels have been hard at work doing what they do best in winter: eating. Their chatter in the trees when another creature comes too close to their hoarded goods is a welcome reprieve from their frantic collecting habits in the fall. That time of year, just walking anywhere near trees is a hazard due to catapulting pine cones.
My smart engineer husband explained why snow looks like this in certain conditions. It sounded great, but I can't remember exactly why. To me it looks like sea salt was scattered all over the ground.
Outstretched toward the sun, drinking in its light
This seems so out of place in February. I forgot how vividly green ferns are!
He found a great spot with a view to rest, and I had a great view looking at him. Meanwhile a squirrel was hollering at us for encroaching on his pantry.
Just in case I got too caught up in the unexpected arrival of spring, this was here to remind me that Christmas was less than two months ago.
What are the signs of spring where you live?
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