Come on, winter, don't tease

The day dawned with great promise – up to twenty inches of snow in the forecast – after a winter without snow for the most part, a ribbon of ice for a driveway just one example of the problem. At first light a small flock of redpolls poked through the bird seed on the ground, the first ones since a single scout showed up New Year's Day, and a far cry from the hordes that showed up two years ago.

Around 1 p.m. the snow started, tiny light flakes, but right on schedule. In a previous home which usually reports the most snowfall on the continent, the word was "small flakes, big snow." Observations showed that was some old wives' tale because most of the big snows started as big flakes.

Throughout the day the redpolls stayed around, but not more than half a dozen or so. They competed with the chickadees, pine grosbeaks and a few juncos and nuthatches, not like that big year in 2013 when they mostly crowded out the others. This year has been a big year for the chickadees and grosbeaks. More of them than ever before have been around all winter. The third 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds is nearly exhausted.

Snow fell for a while through the afternoon, then stopped as darkness fell, leaving a ground cover that barely turned the yard white. A good, healthy sneeze could have cleared the whole thing.

The folks at the Weather Service have updated their forecast pushing back the time to after midnight when the main storm is supposed to hit, with up to 14 inches predicted in Anchorage and anybody's guess how much will hit here and farther west up into the Susitna Valley near the East Pole. 

Overnight maybe another inch fell hiding the rest of the dead leaves in the yard, but still nothing to brag about. The Weather Underground snow depth report says 66 inches are on the ground at the Susitna Valley High School, the reporting point closest to the East Pole. That's doubtful. Either they put the gauge near an eave where snow can slide onto it or the kids are screwing with it. Two days ago the report from there was 5 inches deep and it's doubtful 5 feet fell in the next day and a half.

But there is still a big snowfall in the forecast and the outlook has been extended into Monday, so enough may fall yet for a trip to the cabin next week.

Mind you, yearning for snow is not a bunch of skiers wanting to have some fun. Outside the urban areas, snow is vital. For one thing it makes getting around in the Bush much easier than in summer, and that's what the wait is for here. For another the Iron Dog snowmachine race and several sled dog races including the Iditarod are threatened. There is open water on the Yukon River for crying out loud.

The lack of snow around here isn't the only unusual part of this winter in Alaska. This past week Southeastern Alaska experienced record rainfall in several places and flooding and threatened mudslides actually led to evacuations in Ketchikan, while there was a  headline in a Juneau newspaper saying the rainfall was threatening boats.

Meanwhile in Washington both of Alaska's senators voted to deny that "human activity significantly contributes to climate change."

Senate vote on climate

Iditarod threatened