25 dec 12 christmas light

On Christmas night we launched lanterns into the sky as fluffy snowflakes fell to the ground

29 apr 12 glimpses of spring

A fast spring thaw continues here in Anchorage with snow melting about a foot per week in the yard.  The white and dark green world of our long winter is slowly transforming with the emergence of large swatches of brown ground and old gray snow berms.  A few bright spots of color are peeking out at the margins - the daffodils and muscari up against the south side of the house, the rhubarb on the snow's edge in the garden.

In the morning, the songs of robins and ruby-crowned kinglets greet me and Bhikkhu as we walk down the driveway to get the paper.  The newly exposed ground presents the little dog with new smells and old ones that were muffled for many months.  My less sensitive nose is slower to notice the earthier smell of spring.  What I notice is the warmth.  Even 30 in the morning feels warmer now than it did at midday a month ago. 

The promise of summer will soon be fulfilled.

The melt is somewhat uneven depending upon sun exposure and dark objects. In the last week over a foot of snow had melted around my meauring stick yet the snow was still over a foot deep in many parts of the garden.

22 apr 12 transitions

The snow continues to melt fast enough that I felt confident that any seeds I planted would have an outside home this summer.  Several flats in the living room window are sprouting with lettuce, cabbage, radicchio, broccoli, tomatoes, and a multitude of greens.

A foot of snow melted since last week!

4 apr 12 spring thaw

The snow retreated from the south foundation only two weeks ago and the tiny heads of the muscari are already pushing through the dead leaves.  Slowly the snow level is dropping in the rest of the yard.   The depth varies around the yard, from a foot in the south yard to three at the garden to four around the driveway.  The driveway is almost clear of ice except under the deck where it remains cooler and the sun can't reach.  Almost all of the snow slid off the roof in the last week.   Only a thin shelf on the flat dormer roof continues to simultaneously melt and inch its way over the eave, leaving us to wager on whether it will teeter off or disappear first.  Warm temperatures are melting this record snowfall quickly.  We've never seen a winter like this, though, so I'll try to track the thaw progress until it's all gone.

this flamingo will be tracking the snow depth by the garden gate - 3' today

Here's the yardstick for the rise and fall of the snow - compare to the zenith less than a month ago

7 april 2012 breaking the record

Just when it looked like spring was going to be dry and sunny, the clouds came in and the snows returned.  Yesterday we broke the record for the snowiest recorded winter in Anchorage by almost 2".  We've got something to show for all that shoveling and plowing.

18 mar 12 going for the record

There's nothing like a little competition for people to see the silver lining in a long, snowy winter.  Everyone is hoping for just another few inches of snow so we can break the all-time snowiest winter record from the mid-1950s.  The record is 132.6"and the official snowfall in Anchorage this winter so far is 129.4".  We're one snowy day away from the record.

As I mentioned in my first post about the snow back in January, we receive  more snow in our part of town because we're closer to the mountains than the official site, the airport, is.  I don't know how much snow we've received up here but I know how much is on the ground.  Below are two more photos of our yard for comparison to two weeks ago and January.  The above photo is the signage at the end of our street. 

The sky is cloudy this evening and the forecast calls for scattered snows this week.  Soon that record will belong to the Anchorage citizens of 2011-2012.  And all the slow commutes, aching backs, and narrow streets will be worth it.

Mount Snowmore!  Paul's overhead reach is 8'.

Now we've got a snow fence around the garden

4 mar 12 snow update

The snows continue to fall every couple of days, and Anchorage is nearing an all-time record.   Here are updates to the photos of our yard that I posted in January plus two new ones.

the vegetable garden.  Paul keeps a path open to the compost bins.  The top of the snow is at my chest.

The top of the pagoda is that bright snowy bump just right of center. 

Bhikkhu in the tunnel that is the path to our back door. His back is about 12" tall.

Bhikkhu in the driveway.  The far snow wall is chest height.  If I raise my hand , I can touch the top of the wall on the left.  The pagoda is to my left.

24 feb 12 glen alps

The sun was shining in a blue sky as I shut down my computer late morning on Friday.  I was looking forward to a sunny snowshoe above treeline with Rose and Katey two hours later.  But while the sun was shining on metropolitan Anchorage, the clouds were hovering on the mountains behind us.  We drove up Toilsome Hill Road into those clouds and a snowy world in muted tones.  

Rose and Katey added a bit of color to a black and white scene

18 feb 12 more snow

Paul raking snow from the cabin roof to clear the chimney so we can start a fire after a three-week absence

4 feb 2012 winter heaven

Moose Ridge Trail, Far North Bicentennial Park

Perfect winter weather finally found it's way to south-central Alaska.  The weather this winter seems to swing between hurricane winds and arctic freeze.  The snow has been abundant but so many days and evenings it's been hard for me to motivate to get out into the cold or wind.  At the beginning of last week, the thermometer rose to the teens.  Then by Wednesday it was freezing rain.  Sanity returned with 20s and heavy snowfall all day on Friday.  By the end of the day we had 16" of fluffy white snow at our house and the nearby park.

On Saturday the skies started to clear and we headed to a trail network that we haven't skied yet this year.  It seemed like everyone else did, too.  Any sane Anchorage resident was out enjoying the perfect combination of fresh snow and mid-teens temperatures.  We had never seen so many people skiing here and were surprised at how packed the trail already was.  We were all smiling and friendly.  This is why we live in Alaska.

13 jan 12 mount snowmore

Towns around Prince William Sound are making the national news for the amount of snowfall they've received this winter. Here in Anchorage, we're on our way to setting records, too. As of today, snowfall is more than twice the normal amount for this date (89"). Almost 2' of that fell in the last two weeks. Those are the official numbers that are measured at the airport, which is about 8 miles west as the raven flies from our house. The airport is by the inlet; we are on the hillside of the Chugach Mountains and typically get more snow here than there. Paul is getting a little tired of firing up the snowblower and is having trouble getting the snow up and over the berms around our driveway and walkways. He's named the pile in the corner of the driveway and below the deck: Mount Snowmore.

Here are a few photos of our yard from June and from yesterday.
The vegetable garden ~

Paul's Torii gate

Paul's pagoda