Last dog run?...

After a week of warm weather, it cooled off, clouded over, and dumped a couple inches of snow. While this will delay spring and all the changes it brings, it also means it's time for one more dog run.

Even though the trail out of the yard was soft and punchy, it was still winter in the valley.

The younger dogs ran great this winter and should be a solid team next year.

Signs of spring...

After an unusually cold March, April has started off quite warm with some firsts:

Been up to 50 for a few days now, the first since last October. 

The first time we've seen gravel since last fall.

And the first time the old Ski Doo wouldn't start. Waiting on parts to replace the ignition coils.

And here's the March weather summary:

Fairbanks had a mean monthly temperature of -3.0°F, a significant 14.4°F below normal. Third coldest on record, only seven of the 111 monthly average temps for March have been below zero. The highest temperature for the month was 48°F occurring on the 31st, while the lowest was -39°F on the 8th.

Precipitation was 0.17”, 0.08” below the normal of 0.25”. Snowfall was measured at 3.5”, 71% of normal, 1.4” below the expected 4.9”. Average snow depth was higher than normal at 26 inches at the end of the month. The highest wind speed was 25 mph from a northeasterly direction on the 15th, while the average wind speed was 3.0 mph.

Nugget of a trip...

Years ago Andy and I tried to get to a state parks cabin in the Chena Recreation Area. We never made it in, a combination of encountering overflow on the river and then following the wrong trail. So getting to the cabin became something of a quest. After checking out the the river crossing and confirming the route (Circuitous ramblings on pi day 3/15/17), finally made it to the cabin with my friend Bill.

Heading down the trail. Straight stretches like this were rare.

The dogs parked at the cabin. It was only 7 miles in (about 11 km to the French), so they were still ready for more.

The elusive Nugget Creek Cabin (photo courtesy of Alaska Div. of Parks, since I forgot to take one). It was kind of anti-climatic after waiting all these years to finally get there. It's just an old, kind of run down trappers cabin that the state appropriated, made a few improvements, and then rents it as a  "cozy log cabin with 3 platform bunks on the banks of the South Fork Chena River". The trail in is quite circuitous and could use some realignment(s), but we made it in and out with no serious crashes and the dogs ran great, so like they say,  it just don't get much better than that.

Information on the Chena Recreation Area at:  http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/cabins/north

Circuitous Ramblings on Pi Day

Yesterday was pi day, no not apple, cherry or strawberry rhubarb, but the number pi, 3.1417. Surprised not more was made of it, since it matched our calendar date out to four places this year. But maybe the math nerds are too busy with computer games and/or hacking Facebook, whatever.
Andy and I went out to the park (Last Ride?...10/1/16) to check out some of the trails for a sled dog trip. We've had problems there in the past running into overflow and open water at the river crossings, so we decided to ski in to check it out before bringing the dogs. Back in the day, we did a lot of cross country skiing, winter camping and the like, but hadn't done that in years. When we got into running sled dogs, the skis just languished in the tool shed.

All geared up for the big adventure.

These older wooden skis require waxing. Unfortunately I guessed wrong on the wax, so had lots of grip but no glide. At least I never fell down, likely was stuck fast to the trail, so that's something

February Summary...

Here's the ever popular NWS summary for February:

February 2017 was warm and very snowy with 23.3 inches of snow falling at the Fairbanks airport. The 23.3 inches of snow that fell was 15.2 inches above the normal snowfall of 8.1 inches and ranked as the 6th snowiest February of 106 years of record. Season to date snowfall now totals 78.4 inches as of the 1st of March and is 22.1 inches above the normal season to date snowfall of 56.3 inches. Only 9 other winter seasons have had more snow through the end of February. Snow depth at the Fairbanks airport peaked at 34 inches on the 26th before settling to 32 inches. This is the greatest snow depth at Fairbanks since April of 1993.

The average temperature was 0.7 degrees which was 2.0 degrees above the normal average temperature of 1.3 degrees below and ranked as the 50th warmest of 109 years of record. The warmest temperature during the month of February was 35 degrees above on the 14th and the lowest temperature was 41 below which occurred on the 12th. 

Looking forward to March the temperature climbs sharply as the sun angle and length of day increases. The average daily maximum temperature increases from 18 degrees above on the 1st to 34 degrees on the 31st. The average daily minimum temperature increases from 9 below on the 1st to 8 above on the 31st.

March is on average the driest month in Fairbanks. Normal precipitation is 0.25 inches while normal snowfall is 4.9 inches. In some years the snow pack begins to melt out by late March.

Possible sunshine increases by nearly 7 minutes per day during March,  from 10 hours and 11 minutes on the 1st to 13 hours and 33 minutes on the 31st.

Here's the temperature chart for the winter so far:

What's interesting, to me at least, is the almost cyclical temperature variability this winter. It seems like every ten days to two weeks there's a major shift from warm to cold and then back again. And every warm spell from Decembers on, we got a pretty decent dump of snow. Not a big weather guru, but it seems we haven't had a weather pattern like this since 1990-91 when we set the all time record for snowfall at over 148 in (that's almost four meters to the French).

Another sun dog screen shot from the UAF/GI climate site. If it looks cold, it's cause it is. Been down to thirty below most nights this past week. Where's spring when ya need it!

Snow and more snow...

While February normally has the second lowest snowfall (next to March), this year is different. We've had, according to the NWS, 17 inches of snow this week,  almost two feet for the month, and 72 inches this winter so far  (that's almost two meters to the French). To those not from Alaska, this might not seem like much, but it is when you're running out of places to push it.

The piles next to the driveway are getting too high for the loader. Must be time for a bigger tractor!

Another job well done, at least until the next dump of snow.

Photos courtesy of Andy, who thought the blog needed some tractor porn!

Sunny Daze

The one thing I've noticed about these digital cameras is that they seem to need a lot more light to get a decent photo, compared to the older film type cameras. I guess this is maybe a throwback to those who don't know what a kodak camera is, but anyway, the sun was out on the last dog run, I remembered the camera, and the sky and snow don't look gray. So no matter where yah go there yah are...

Heading through the clearing on a new trail. State forestry bulldozed this area to create a fire break about ten years ago. 

Missy takes a turn up front with Jabba . Obi looked like he needed a break, so she got some training in lead. Down to a five dog team now that Barney, Polar, and Spuds are all retired.

Sign of the Beast...

Woke up the other day and saw this on the indoor/outdoor thermometer:

I figured it must be a sign of the end of times.  (According to Wikipedia, 666 has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist and the number is purportedly used to invoke Satan). Then I remembered the T-Rumpster was president and that confirmed it.
But when the world didn't end that morning, figured the best thing to do was go run some dogs.

Heading out on a new section trail; rerouted due to some major overflow  (aufeis) on the main trail.

Taking a break on the way home. Obi and Jabba have really blossomed as leaders now that Barney's retired. They act like a couple of clowns, chasing each other around the dog yard, but go figure, they're doing great leading the team. You just never know until you put'em up there.

January Summary...

National Weather Service summary for January for Fairbanks, AK

A very cold airmass moved over the interior during the second week of the month and as skies cleared, temperatures plummeted. Fairbanks experienced its first 40 below since 2015. The temperature continued to drop and the next day the temperature dropped to 51 below at the Fairbanks Airport. This was the first 50 below or colder day since 2012.  There have been three days so far this year when the temperature has reached 40 below or colder. The average temperature was 9.5 below which ranked as the 54th coldest of 109 years of record.

Seventeen inches of snow fell during January at the Fairbanks Airport which was 6.7 inches above the normal January snowfall. This ranked as the 20th snowiest in 107 years of record. Season to date snowfall is now 55.1 inches which is 6.9 inches more than normal.

Looking forward to February, the average maximum temperature increases from 3 degrees above on the 1st to 17 degrees above on the 28th. The average minimum temperature increases from 16 degrees below on the 1st to 10 degrees below on the 28th. The average snowfall in February is 8.1 inches. Available sunshine increases from 7 hours and zero minutes on the 1st to 10 hours and 4 minutes on the 28th.

The outlook for Fairbanks in February from the Climate Prediction Center calls for near normal, temperatures and precipitation.

The main thing that struck me about this winter so far, besides how freakin' cold the forty below spell was, is how often it's snowed. Since late November, it seems like I'm out on the tractor an awful lot, at least compared to the last couple of winters. So one thing I really appreciate this year is having the rear blade hooked to hydraulics.  When we first got the tractor, it had a manual rear blade. To change to angle. you had to remove the clevis pin, push the blade to desired angle, and re-insert the pin. But you couldn't see it very well, since the pin and keeper were underneath the center support, so you had to either crawl underneath it to see it, or take off your gloves and do it by feel. I usually did the latter, my hands near freezing by the time it was done. So when my neighbor Bert offered to help convert it to hydraulics (Hydro Rear 1/23/13), well that was a pretty good deal.

So now every time I'm out plowing and have to change the angle on the rear blade, I appreciate the fine job he did,  making the work a little easier and keeping my hands a whole lot warmer.

Cloudy...

After what seemed like a month of clear, cold weather, the chinook rolled through, brought in some clouds, and warmed things up above zero. But what was unusual for a chinook, which usually brings warm, dry weather, it dumped 2-3 inches of snow. So I wound up firing up the tractor to plow the road and driveway, then hop on the ski doo to groom the dog trail. As luck would have it, the clouds started to clear off just when leaving and the temps quickly dropped to nearly twenty below (about minus thirty to the French). But I did remember to grab the camera, so I got a few shots while freezing my butt off down in the valley.

The alpenglow really lit up the clouds...

And had a fine sunset on the way home.

Chinook!...

NWS forecast...
"Southerly flow aloft will push a series of weather systems north over Northern Alaska through the weekend. This will bring temperatures to well  above normal through Thu along with Chinook wind conditions in the SE Interior of Alaska. This will also bring above normal temperatures and periods of light snow to the remainder of northern Alaska through the weekend." Temperatures are expected to rise today to the single digits above zero in the valley and teens to low twenties in the hills.

According to the NWS, a chinook occurs when strong south winds over the Alaska Range block moisture to areas north of the mountains while warming up the air as it descends on the leeward side of the range due to adiabatic heating. While it may not seem like temps. in the single digits are warm, just a few days ago it was forty below and it hadn't been above zero for about a week.

Taking the doggies out for a run is a lot more pleasant now that it's above zero.

More Cold...

The forecast for extreme cold last week (Sun Dog...1/11/17) didn't happen. Instead we got another half a foot of snow. But then came yesterdays forecast...

National Weather Service... Arctic cold to settle into the interior...

"Temperatures will fall to around 40 below for much of the interior over the next 24 hours. Some areas outside Fairbanks may see 55 below before the end of the week.

As the snow ends and skies clear a pool of cold air over the high Canadian Arctic will move southwest into the eastern interior Tuesday and settle in across the interior for the remainder of
the week. Low temperatures in the valleys will fall to 40 to 50 below with the coldest temperatures expected in the upper Yukon Flats may fall to around 55 below. Valley locations will not see much change as highs will be in the 30s to around 40 below."

And this time they were right...

National Weather Service....Extreme Cold Over Interior Alaska...

"Temperatures in the 40s and 50s below have been recorded this morning across Interior Alaska. Areas of dense ice fog have formed in valley locations as well. Hillsides are in the 30s below with hill tops in the 20s below.

These cold temperatures will continue through Thursday night in most areas from Fairbanks west. Clouds will spread to the area east of Fairbanks tonight and Thursday causing a slight moderation of temperatures east of Fairbanks."

Some low temperatures in the Interior this morning...

Fairbanks Airport...........51 below.
Fort Wainwright.............49 below.
Eielson AFB...................53 below.
Little Chena R at 12mi...52 below.
Chena R at 39mi.............53 below.

So we really can't complain about the temp's at our place.

But at least it makes for clear sunny weather...

And it's a great time to split fire wood. The logs almost explode when you whack'em with an axe at 40 below.