A Return to Winter

While the Lower 48 was hit by a series of winter storms and record snowfalls, Alaska - at the other end of the whipsaw jet stream - had unseasonably warm weather. With temps in the mid- to upper-30s, we watched about half of the snow melt, and the roads go from snow- and ice-packed to wet, sloppy messes, to finally dry.

Then things changed, and seasonal weather has returned to both the U.S. and Alaska. The weather we knew would be coming, has arrived: cold, blustery, and snowy. Today has been sunny with blue skies, but the high only made it to 21, and wind chills have been in the single digits.

Our friends at the weather service are now calling for 7" to 12" of snow in the next day and a half, with temps in the upper 20s to around 30 (about normal for March). Since we still have about a foot of snow on the ground, the prospect of more snow isn't as big a deal as you might think.

I just gave my wife's car a drink, and in the words of the old Yorkshire farmers, there's a "lazy wind". It can't be bothered to go 'round you; it just goes right through. I had on a winter jacket, hat, and gloves - and in a matter of minutes, felt as though I was in shirtsleeves. I know my lowered resistance to the cold is a holdover from the chill I got yesterday, when I failed to dress warmly enough for the Iditarod. Still, I haven't spent nearly as much time out-of-doors this year as in seasons past; that needs to change.

But the sun is bright, the snow is crunchy underfoot, and the forecast is gloomy. That's Alaska, and it's okay with us.