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Month: November 2017

Snowy November

Snowy November

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Well here we are  almost to the end of the month. November started out here with  bare earth and  we are ending up with 15 inches on the ground. According to the NWS FAI we are in the top 10 for snowy Novembers. Coming in at 8th place with and week left  the possibility of  moving up to 7th place. Here on the old stump ranch we have 31 inches recorded for snowfall. Most of it was in 1 week period were 2 storms back to back came out of Siberia and  hit us from the NW quadrant. Coldest temps recorded so far was -23 below. So far state wide there has been no 30 below temps which we should be pushing.  Looking ahead I see an mild winter here for Alaskan standards. Chucki Sea and the Bering Sea are still Ice free, Norton Sound is still open and not much shore fast ice along the coast.

The storm track is up long the Russian coast instead of across the gulf so those big storms been pumping warm  air up into the artic area, Several times this month the  freezing level along those tracks been as high as 14K ASL.

Along the chain they got hit  with one storm couple days ago packing hurricane force winds. That storm is now in the Bering. Marine forecast last night show area  having 50 foot seas.  Ah the wonderful  days of  wind singing  the rigging and the pleasure of sleeping on  the deck as it was too rough to sleep in the bunk.

All for now

Keep an log on the fire and candle in the window

 

Fast cool down as cold front moved thru

Fast cool down as cold front moved thru

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Temperature dropped 7 degrees here this evening as skies clear and  cold front passage passed thru.  From 17 degrees it plummet to  2 above before leveling out and at present  starting to show slow rise in temp. On the other front  over 2/3 of Alaska is under some type of  watch,warning or advisory. From Coastal flooding to winter storm warning  to blowing snow advisory.  Only area with out  anything is the south coast and Se Alaska.

Here  we are expected to get an dumping of snow  3-6 inches with 30 mph winds tomorrow. The storm is expected to start somewhere around 0300 and continue on into Monday morning  before abating as it moves off into Canada.

This pass week we had  snow 5 out of 7 days. The heaviest  24 hour period had 2.5 inches of snow.  So far monthly total stands at 12 inches with 9 inches laying. Compaction and sublimation makes up for the differences in amount. Living in an cold desert sure can make moisture in any form disappear quickly.

Looking at the new charts to night on Alaska weather on PBS  there is another gale with possibility of low pressure developing  over Siberia and with present weather pattern it might head towards out area  after it racks the West Coast area. With out the Bering and  Chukchi Sea (which gets it name  from the Eskimos living in that area) being ice over yet  there is coastal flooding and erosion being done from these  storms as they  take the Bering Sea route. So far this  year very few storms  have taken the southern route across the Gulf of Alaska  to slam into SE Alaska.

Well until later date

Stay warm and keep an log on the fire.

 

 

Gravitating towards the minus zero mark

Gravitating towards the minus zero mark

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Well the week end found us with an mixture of weather.  Rain, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, Snow and  back to freezing drizzle in between  the snow bands.  In all we came up with an total of 6.5 inches of precip in the frozen form. Saturdays snow was the wettest with moisture  content of .30 of an inch. temperatures was  mild in the low 30’s to high 20’s. While moving snow yesterday notice that it was getting an little chilly. Just had Carhart vest and  heavy shirt on. When I started it was 22 degrees. So decided it was good time for coffee break. (anytime is coffee time)  and while in I check WD to see what temp was doing.  Was down to 19 and dropping as the  cold front moved thru. Had been dropping for about an hour and stayed there  for the next 2 hours before it started to rise.

With us going on standard time there is really an shortage of evening daylight as the sun keep moving south and has an shorter and shorter arc across the horizion. Not an lot of warmth coming from it due to the low angle.

This AM  wife and  hit the icy roads to head into Fairbanks. Was an balmy 15 degrees. As we started to drop into the Fairbanks  bowl the temps started to drop. By the time we got to Eilsen AFB  temps was down to 3 deg. F. and stayed there  most of the way into North Pole.

Looking ahead  this week in the  forecast it looks like we will be hitting the below zero mark. Was 9 deg this AM for our low under partly cloudy sky.  Last night  had good bright moon shining on the fresh white surroundings.  Almost grab camera to snap an quick  shot.

Other  then the above it back to same old hum dum weather again so with that

Stayt warm and keep an log on the fire.

Warm October

Warm October

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Seening how I was told on another forum where I use to post my weather  and happening that  no one really cares about Alaska  weather and that they  know it gets cold up here . I really have said the hell with it. So don’t expect much out of me due to  imbeciles in the lower 48.

 

So far  October been an dud. Warm weather  all thru the month Last year at this time we were below zero every night. So far only one night hit 6 below. Pass week here been rain  but it not from the typoon remmants that  went up the Bering coast.  Only the SW and W coast saw anything out of it as it pushes by Shemya. Even the heavy seas associated with the storm is staying well offshore.  It is typical in September and October to have those  Tropical depressions come thru  either up the  bering if they turn late or into the gulf if  they turn early. Jet stream  at present is  steering  that depression  due north up along Siberia.

Here we  got over a week ago about 2 inches of snow. Chinook came along with  70+ mph wind south of Delta junction  along the  Alaska range and raised temps to the mid 40’s  and melted  the snow. Then  we been having  rain every couple of days to keep  cold roads slippery. This moisture is coming  up from the gulf of Alaska. Latest  surface chard shows  an High pressure system settling  on the Alaska/ Yukon Border.

 

Until some thing exciting happens  keep an log on the fire