Logged out...

When we dropped a dead aspen tree last fall (Aspen Errors, Part Duce 10/6/17) one log remained stuck between the double birch tree that had protected the greenhouse. Tried to lever it out with a  pry bar and knock it out with a sledge, but both proved futile. Figured I'd need to cut down at least one of the birch trees, but then got the idea of pulling it loose with a come-along.  I wasn't sure it'd work. but still figured it was worth a try. Hooked the come-along up to another birch about thirty feet away and cranked it tight. At first it didn't budge, so got the maul and gave the log a few whacks. Of course all the snow in the birch trees cascaded down so I looked like the abominable snowman. But the log moved a bit and that gave me hope. So reset the come-along and cranked it tight again. This time the log moved a little more with each whack until it finally popped out of the notch between the trees. I guess it's the little successes that make life interesting.

Once the the tension was tight enough, the log popped out of the notch with a few whacks of the maul. I didn't take a picture at the start cause  I didn't really expect it to work. There's a photo of the log stuck in the notch at Chillin' out...(1/21/18).

January Weather Summary...

The ever popular NWS summary:
January 2018 was warmer and snowier than normal in the Fairbanks area. The mean temperature of 6.0 below was 1.9 degrees above the normal of 7.9 below and ranked as the 42nd warmest of 110 years of record.

The highest temperature was 33 degrees above which occurred on the 17th. The lowest temperature was 33 below which occurred on 26th and 29th and is the coldest temperature recorded at the Fairbanks Airport this season.

14.1 inches of snow fell at the Fairbanks Airport which is 3.8 inches above the normal January snowfall of 10.3 inches and ranked as the 17th snowiest January of 109 years of record. The
heaviest 24 hour snowfall occurred on the 17th when 6.1 inches of wet and heavy snow fell in a narrow band over the west side of Fairbanks. Both rain and snow fell and made for difficult travel
conditions as the rain fell and then froze on cold road surfaces. 1.10 inches of precipitation fell in fairbanks during the month of January which was 0.52 inches above the normal precipitation of 0.58 inches. For the 2017 to 2018 snowfall season 50.9 inches of snow has fallen at the Fairbanks Airport which is 2.7 inches above the normal season to date.

Looking forward to February the climatologically coldest part of the winter is now behind us and available day light continues to increase at nearly seven minutes per day. A noticeable diurnal
temperature range will again be felt especially by the end of the month. The average temperature increases from 7 below on the 1st to 4 degrees above on the 28th. Temperature extremes have ranged from 50 above in 1943 to 58 below in 1947 and 1993. The normal precipitation for February is 0.42 inches. The average snowfall in February is 8.1 inches. Available sunshine increases from six hours and 59 minutes on the 1st to 10 hours and 2 minutes on the 28th.

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

Chart from Alaska Climate Research Center

Well January had a little bit of everything, snow, rain, ice storms, warm and cold temps, but still no 40 below, so that's something I guess. Now looking forward to the longer and warmer days, but I hope not too much warmer weather, that's soon to come. It's the best time of the year up here!

Out again...

After a week of not running the dogs due to the cold weather, finally got out on the runners again.

And the sun clears the ridge top now, bringing sunlight, but little warmth, to the valley bottom.

And finally, it's the last sunset in January, 2018. Looking forward to better weather in February and March.

Chillin' out...

After the recent warm weather, the bottom dropped out today. From the NWS:
Fairbanks dropped to 30 below this morning. This was the coldest temperature so far this winter and the first 30 below of the winter in Fairbanks. Temperatures in the area are expected to remain cold through the week, with temperatures between 15 to 35 below zero. In a normal winter, Fairbanks has about 18 days with temperatures that reach 30 below or colder.

The best thing about the cold weather is splitting wood. During this last warm spell, quit splitting cause the axe just stuck in the wood. Today, when it's well below zero, the logs almost exploded.

After years of using a heavy splitting maul, decided to try something different. Took an old double blalded axe, removed the broken handle, and arc welded a triangle shaped bead on both sides of one blade to create a wedge shape. Then mounted it on a long, fiberglass sledge handle. It's a lot lighter than the maul and splits almost as well. And since it's lighter, it's a lot easier to swing, so it doesn't get my elbow tendonitis all fired up, and that's suh-weet!

It sure doesn't look like much, but that little bead of weld really makes the axe split the wood!

Hot Times...

From NOAA's Statewide 2017 Year in Review: Spring and summer temperatures in the Arctic were cooler in 2017 than they have been earlier this decade, but the annual average surface temperature was still the second highest on record.
Here's the annual temperature chart from the Alaska Climate Research Center for 2017 for Fairbanks, Alaska.

In other news, it's warmed up to near thirty above this week after temps near thirty below last week.

This warm weather makes for some pretty hot doggies, especially when they're used to running when it's below zero.

January Sunset...

Hit the triple crown today: while out working on the dog trails, there was a beautiful sunset, it was above zero, warm enough to enjoy it, and I remembered the camera. Almost inconceivable!

Just after turning for home, passed a clearing that gave the first good view of the sunset.

A couple of miles further on, the colors had deepened a bit.

Finally getting to where the trail crosses a big clearing, the colors had maxed out. Seldom get to see such a fine sunset and having it near twenty above in January made it way better. Sometimes it's the little things that make life interesting.

December Weather Summary...

The ever popular NWS monthly summary:
Weather summary for December for Fairbanks Alaska...
A remarkably warm December in Fairbanks due to a persistent upper level ridge over the west coast of North America. This produced multiple long duration warm chinook events that pushed the temperatures in Fairbanks into a record December.  It was the warmest of the last century and the second warmest December on record which date back 113 years.
Mean monthly temperature was 8.9°F, which was 13.0°F above normal. The observed maximum temperature was 41.0°F on the 13rd of the month. The minimum temperature was -26.0°F on the 29th of the month. The total monthly precipitation was 0.3°F, which was 0.3" below normal. Snowfall  was 7.0 inches, which was 5.1 inches below normal.
Looking forward to January, the average temperature drops from 7 below on the 1st, bottoms out at 8.7 below on the 16th, and then climbs back to 6 below on the 31st for an average of 8 below for the month. Temperatures in January have ranged from 52 above in 2009 to 66 below in 1934.
The average snowfall in January is 10.3 inches, but has ranged from 66 inches in January of 1937 to trace amounts some years. Possible sunshine increases in January with 4 hours and 2 minutes of possible sunshine on the 1st increasing by an average of 5 minutes per day to 6 hours and 52 minutes by the 31st. 
The outlook for Fairbanks for January from the Climate Prediction Center calls for above normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

Chart is from the Alaska Climate Research Center (http://climate.gi.alaska.edu)

January Dog Runs...

Been out with the dogs a few times since New Years. While it was pretty warm the first run, near thirty, it's cooled off a bit and been near zero the last couple. Still, it's pretty warm for Jan.

The sun is starting to appear again at the top of the ridge, it won't be too long before we'll see the sunlight down here on the trail.

Been running Jabba in single lead, since none of the others are good at passing other teams. Hopefully they'll all pick it up soon, since we'll be running into more teams as the distance of the runs increase. Don't want the locals madder at me than usual for tangling up a pass!

New Years...

Spent yesterday and today breaking out new trail. The first day was spent mainly crossing the clearing that state forestry put in a while back (Sunny Daze 2/17/17). Of course I got stuck a few times in the drifts, but finally made to the main trail on the other side and who should come by with his daughter and grand kids is a neighbor hadn't seen in years. So talked to him for a bit until the kids were going into hypothermia, then went on our separate ways. The rest of the time was spent connecting existing trails to form a loop and then head home. Figured the next day'd be easy since all that was needed was to pull the groomer over the new trail and brush some overhanging trees.
All that went fine, but didn't appreciate that the temperature inversion, that was absent yesterday, had returned, so the valley was about 15° colder than at the house. Wearing the same light gear, got a big surprise when heading down into the valley and it quickly got nippy. Could have turned back, but hey I'm tough right? So stupidity ruled. About five miles out, realized that this was a bad idea, since my hands were pretty cold by then. The hot grips that would have helped, burned out years ago when the voltage regulator went bad, and never replaced them. Then the trip, which had been non stop, became a stop every mile or so, to either brush some trees or lacking any work, just running in place and swinging my arms until the circulation came back. Too much fun. But now I'm home with all my fingers and toes, so alls well that ends well, I suppose.

Stopped at the turn for home where the trail faces south and got this photo. There was a great sunset all the way back, but my hands were too cold by then to mess with the camera. Thinking it might be time to fix those hot grips.

Winter Solstice...

Actually, the next day or so, but since the sun angle and day length only change a few seconds per day at this time of year, well who's to say what's the shortest day?

Here's a shot from the bottom of the valley behind our place looking south at the afternoon sun. It won't clear the ridge again for another few weeks.

Here's a view of the ridge on the other side of the valley. The sun hits the ridge part way up and it's a real treat running the dogs when the trail gets us up to the sunny side of the valley.

Here comes the sun! Coming down that ridge on the trail there's a gap in the trees where the sun just clears the ridge top to the south. Pretty nice view. While the days are short and it's usually cold out, there's still lots to see when you get outside.
If you want to see the real solstice, there's a time lapse series of photos at the Alaska Climate Center:
http://akclimate.org/sites/Default/files/webcam-timelapse/2017_12_21-TLaps.gif
(copy and paste into your browser)

Merry Christmas...

Off to the neighbors for Christmas dinner after a fine breakfast and opening gifts. And now our so called president seems to think Obama banned Christmas and he just brought it back. I guess I missed that version of reality: https://www.yahoo.com/news/tv-ad-thanks-trump-ending-203029715.html
Anyway have a Merry Christmas. Here's a group I'd like to hear sometime; maybe that's one thing we can all agree on, or not .

First dog run...

Well actually the second since I forgot the camera on the first one, like always. The dogs ran great, except for a short stop out the dog yard when Tambo didn't realize he was a sled dog. The rest of the run was fine, as was the second, once we got him going, no real problems.

It's hard to get good pics with the low angle sun. The lower valley won't get direct sunlight until mid-January when the sun clears the ridge top again.

When we got  back, there were some seriously tired doggies. Like they say, a good sled dog is one that's just finished a hard run.