Winter's late arrival

There was no snow on that mountain yesterday
and this morning it was down to the base.

Normally there's termination dust (the first snow signifying the termination of summer and a signal for seasonal outsiders to go home) on the high mountains around here by mid August. Just a few years ago it came in July. After that first dusting, the snow line slowly creeps down the mountain, the elevations carefully tracked, until sometime, most often in October, it lands in the yard, but often doesn't last.

Until yesterday there had been no sign of it, except maybe a very light dusting way high on Pioneer Peak in the front yard. That's late by anyone's measure and you have to wonder is this another sign of the storied global climate change? Maybe, maybe not. Yearly changes can usually be credited to weather and cycles rather than huge environmental changes. This year the El Nino is strong and warmer weather was predicted for Alaska.

Today we woke up to what's in the picture. Snow all the way down the mountain and in the yard – not a lot and it melted quickly but still it's here. According to the weather service, it snowed pretty much everywhere in Alaska with some places receiving more than a foot. What fell in the yard here is gone now, but for sure more is on the way.

With the snow forecast yesterday I walked around the yard making sure everything had been picked up – in the process rescuing my small sledge hammer. I did discover a huge mistake I made last spring that I'm sure I will pay for. I stored the snowblower at the back of the tent-garage with two snowmachines blocking it in, which means in order to clear the driveway if I have to, I am going to have to start those two machines to move them out of the way. There's always some trauma involved with starting the machines for the first time, so here's hoping.