Spring is Sprung

 Several readers have asked when Spring arrives, up here. Never mind the 18" of snow still in the yard. Never mind the 4-and-a-half-foot snow berms lining the streets. Never mind the bare branches on the deciduous trees.

No, what matters is the one surefire, never-fail sign that winter has officially run its course: the seagulls have returned. There were a LOT of them in the grocery store parking lot last week. There are more now.

Srsly, the seagulls are clever in that regard: they don't show up until the accumulating snow has stopped falling.

And sure enough, the overnight lows have suddenly decided to stay above freezing, so now the snow piles are receding apace. It's been a long winter, and most of us are ready for some green to offset the white we've been looking at since early October.

Of course, that'll be awhile, but at least now we know that it's on the way. 

When Will All This Snow Melt?

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - It’s been an above average winter for snow totals in the Anchorage area with 82.4 inches recorded as of March 31st. That makes the winter of 2016-2017 the 16th snowiest winter on record. On the last day of March, 26 inches of snow still lingered on the ground. The question for many: When is all this snow going to melt?

If the past is any guidance, the end of April.

In 2012, Anchorage also had a snow depth of 26 inches on March 31. The snow had melted by April 25. In 2004, the snow depth stood at 30 inches at the end of March. That year, the snow was gone by April 23.

The month of March 2017 was slightly above normal for snow with 10.3 inches. All the snow for the month came down on March 28, 29 and 31. March 29 was a record day with 8.4 inches falling. The previous record for that date was 3.4 inches in 2001.

The warmest temperature Anchorage saw in March 2017 was 35 F. That’s the coldest monthly high temperature for any March on record.

March 2017 was also the 9th coldest March, with an average temperature of 19.2 F, putting it 7.4 F below normal (26.6F degrees). This is the fourth consecutive month with a below normal average temperature.

They're Awake

Bears Out and About in Anchorage

A black bear watches a gathering crowd of people from a safe perch in a tree high above the Campbell Creek trailhead on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Anchorage, Alaska. Cars stopped along the roadway and people were snapping pictures of the bear. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/04/21/2874230/bears-are-out-and-about-in-the.html#storylink=cpy

 By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS

— mtheriault@adn.com

Snow turns to slush. Days get warmer. Bears wake up.

Every year by mid-April Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Jessy Coltrane gets the year's first report of a bear sighting in Anchorage.

By the first day of May the summer's bear frenzy will have begun in earnest. Coltrane and her two assistants will spend the season mediating encounters between the city's human and ursine residents, sometimes with a shotgun. 

Read the rest here.

Neither One Nor The Other

4/18/13

This is a tough time of year for Alaskans.

The winter just passed seems to be gone, but we're all aware that it can come roaring back in a heartbeat, dumping two or three feet of snow in a short time. I give you, as example, April 27th of 2008 - when we received 27 inches of snow in about 12 hours' time.

But in the meantime, the snow that's already here is receding. Sunny days and cold nights produce bare spots where the afternoon sun is strongest, and leaves the compacted snow two feet deep in shadier spots.

We look longingly at the sunshine outside, but are reminded each time we step outside that it only looks warm. The picture above was taken just a few moments ago, and the temp is 37 degrees. Any breezes bring windchills in the teens and 20s, and the ground is still cold and hard.

Once the frost thaws far enough down (it's some nine feet deep right now, much of which never melts - hence "permafrost") we'll see buds appearing at the tips of branches, and even some tiny shoots of grass will begin to appear.

But until then, we look at the calendar ... then outside ... and sigh.

Break-up in Alaska

Y'all call it Spring. We call it break-up, and it's the ugliest time of year. Dirty, melting snow (and this year, we've got a LOT of it), standing water that can't escape through the frozen, snow-covered drains or swales ...

I took this a few minutes ago at the gas station. The rest of the parking lot was under more water than where I was.

And So It Begins

We've entered a pattern of lows in single-digits to mid-teens, with highs in the 30s and 40s, along with plenty of sunshine. The packed snow in parking lots melts, forming large lakes which then refreeze overnight into large skating rinks.

We're digging the sunshine, though.

* * * * *

I note with sadness that North has ended his blog. We'll miss your insight, buddy.

* * * * *

There's nothing of particular interest in the local news, so this post is shorter than I first imagined it. Have a great day!

Winds of Change

The forecast of windy conditions was correct. So far, today:

• Thousands without power through Anchorage, the Valley, and western Alaska
• Roofs blown off
• Heavy snow reported to the west
• Warnings and advisories for much of Alaska

The warning for Anchorage includes this:

Southeast winds with gusts around 90 mph have been
reported along the Upper Hillside and Turnagain Arm. Southeast
winds with gusts of 60 to 77 mph are also present over the lower
hillside in Southeast Anchorage.

They're calling for rain & snow for the next 48 hours or so. It's the not-so-fun part of break-up, when the weather actually breaks things.

Sometimes "I Told You So" Isn't Enough

I just posted about driving to work in a snowfall (or yesterday, a storm with white-out/blizzard conditions for the first 3 miles).

Today's paper has this:

Storm causing havoc across much of Alaska

Anchorage Daily News / adn.com

Published: April 7th, 2011 07:23 AMLast Modified: April 7th, 2011 07:24 AM

A dangerous storm system is causing trouble across much of Alaska this morning, with reports of roofs blown off or damaged in one community, winds and heavy snow elsewhere, and warnings and advisories in effect for much of the state.

Gusts approaching or exceeding 100 mph are being reported in the Aleutians, according to the National Weather Service. 

Several buildings in False Pass, near the western tip of the Alaska Peninsula, have had their roofs blown off or damaged, with winds there measured between 100 and 110 mph, the weather service reports.

"Damage reports include...public safety building roof partially blown off," the weather service reported. 

"Several other buildings have lost parts of their roofs and some have completely collapsed. At least 2 homes have completely lost their roofs. The medical clinic windows were blow out. 4-wheeler spotted tumbling down the street."

Among the other trouble spots:

• A high wind warning is in effect for the Anchorage Hillside and Turnagain Arm until 4 p.m., with winds up to 75 mph possible. The National Weather Service says gusts up to 45 mph are possible and south and west parts of the city.

• Heavy snow is forecast for the Susitna Valley north of Anchorage, with between 10 inches and 20 inches forecast. A winter storm warning is in effect for the area, including around Talkeetna.

• A high wind warning is in effect for Portage Valley, with gusts to 75 mph.Heavy snow was being reported in Girdwood early this morning.

• The entire western Alaska coast, from Kotzebue to Bristol Bay, is under a winter storm warning.

In a special statement this morning, the weather service described "a dynamic and dangerous storm" that has moved into the Central Bering Sea.

Welcome to Spring!

Break-Up

... when the ice turns to slush turns to puddles. This is one of the smaller ones I saw on the way home today.  Notice in the rearview mirror, you can see the current price of gas ($4.07) and the signs for the highway.

Hey - gotta do something to keep my interest up. Of course, I'll be the first to admit that if seeing a highway sign is exciting, then I've got a pretty dull day going on.

Click for big

I Was GOING to Talk About Break-Up (UPDATED)

... but it's snowing again.

Here's yesterday afternoon:

Click to embiggen, just in case you haven't seen enough snow, yet

This morning it's snowing, and although we'll probably get into the upper 30s today, tomorrow will be somewhat colder, and the weather folks are all telling us about a huge weather system moving this way from the Aleutians.

That's what I get for having a discussion with my wife, last night, about when to remove the studded tires from the cars.

Never mind.

Snow falling at 10:45 a.m.

Update: Accu-Oops Weather now guesses we'll get 1" to 4" today and another 2" overnight, with temps dropping into the upper teens. So the wet snow will be sloppy today, icy tonight, and treacherous tomorrow.

If I had to pick one season of the year that I'm not crazy about, here, it would be this one. But it's still so danged beautiful!

I Don't Like Break-Up*

This is the only time of year for which I don't care, here in Alaska. The snow can be beautiful, with a fresh coat of white on it from late-winter flurries, slowly melting under the increasing hours of sunlight ...

or it may be showing the sand and gravel used for traction, ugly and black.

Since Anchorage is fairly sheltered from the rains, with mountains on three sides, it doesn't often rain very hard. Because of that, there are only a couple of places in town where storm drains have been installed.

Imagine black snow, melting ... heavy traffic at intersections ... and nowhere for the black water to go.

That black water splashes liberally all over your car or truck. Traversing intersections becomes a jaunt through walls of brown or black spray, coating the windows in successive layers of a grey slime which resists all the most stubborn of fluids. Wipers just smear it, and after only a few miles, it begins to feel as though you're piloting a deep-sea submersible, with only tiny portholes through which you can see.

The car washes are busy, each time the sun comes out, but nights sink well below the freezing mark, leaving doors and windows frozen shut, a situation with which drivers will wrestle, the next morning.

I know it leads to fertile soil, and the summer vegetation will eventually do what it always does: explode into a thick, lush forest in only a few days. Those "few days", however, won't happen until the ground temperature has warmed up considerably from its currently-frozen state. We don't get a proper spring season; we have summer, fall, winter, and mud.

But when those green leaves appear on the trees, all the ugliness of break-up will be forgotten once again, as we rush out into the summer activities which make the long winters worthwhile.


* That's what Alaskans call "Spring" - when ice on the rivers, lakes and streams begins to ... well, break up.