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Sunday, March 24, 2019

Spring has Sprung...

Almost a month early, but the signs of breakup are well under way...
The winter's snowpack slowly sliding off the garage roof.

Dirt showing on the driveway and dog trail for the first time since last fall.

An old Triumph's dug out for another chance at life. Ya never know when something might get done around here!

Friday, March 15, 2019

The Ides of March...

Well I've posted about the Ides before (Ides of March 3/15/13), but since nobody but Scott seems to read it, here it is again. The Ides are part of the old Roman calendar that refers to the mid-month. Reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year. So March 15 on our current calendar corresponded to their new year, which apparently occurred at mid-month? Well I don't know about that, but if you're interested, you can google it up on Wikipedia like I did. What I do know is that mid-March is the best time to run dogs in Alaska. So that's what I've been doing...
Heading up the Iowa Creek trail, the hills north of town are pretty impressive as they rise over a thousand feet above the valley bottom.

Here's a shot a little further on. Back when I ran a ten dog team, we'd head up to the top of the ridge. Now a days, we're not so ambitious!

Jabba, the fearless leader on the left, is slow but steady, while Missy, on the right, can't stand to go slow,  so keeps us moving. Between the two, they make a pretty good pair of leaders.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

February weather...

February's kind of an odd month, starts off cold with short days and ends up relatively warm with the sunshine coming on strong. Here's a shot of a late February sunset, reflecting off the ice that overflows the trail down in the valley (same spot as in previous post, but looking in the opposite direction).

The NWS summary for the month:
The average temperature for Fairbanks in February was 5.5° F, which was 6.8 ° above normal. The highest temperature was 32° on the 12th, while the lowest was -29° on the 2nd. 
Precipitation totaled 0.79" for the month, which was 0.37" above normal. Snowfall for the month totaled 16" at the airport. The highest daily total was 5.3" on the 12th. Snow depth at the end of the month was 24".
Chart from Alaska Climate Research Center