Anchorage at 4o degrees in January is not necessarily a pleasant place to be. In the past three days we've had wind gusts up to 100 m.p.h., consistent rain, and a lot of melt water from all the snow. School has been canceled three days running because of dangerous road conditions and high wind.
At the current rate, it is plausible we may lose 2/3 of the snow that was previously on the ground. All of the melting has created ice rinks of roads, sidewalks, and driveways. Just today I had to make two attempts at getting the Subaru up the driveway--the pitch is not that steep. To add to slippery conditions, there is enough water to put every road under 2-3 inches of water, and much more in places with little drainage.
Carrie and I keep remarking how much we would love to have our subzero temperatures and snow back. We're hoping for much cooler temps and inches of snow in the near future so we can get back to normal. We still have a good three months of winter left and hope it looks like it sooner rather than later.
It goes without saying that cross country skiing, ice skating, snow shoeing and other winter sports are out of the question. Maybe wind sailing will get popular? Many are getting cabin fever, including me; so, Elsa and I ventured out for about an hour and a half to take a current assessment of the dismal conditions. Below are some of the photographs we came back with.
Day two of the deluge, Carrie shovels heavy, wet snow. The snow on the shed in the background is now nonexistent.
Our driveway, and road complete with inches of water and ice
Cheney Lake, once under almost 2o inches of ice, now with at least 4 inches of water on top of whatever ice remains unmelted.
The white line you see here demarcates the former path of packed snow from the main peninsula to the island in the distance. The snow was two feet deep in places just three days ago.
A nice overview of Cheney Lake from the north end--notice no snow on the branches!
Trail deluge, east side of Cheney Lake.
A snacking moose at Nunaka Valley Park--he was leery of Elsa and I; we employed ample zoom on the camera to capture this one.
What's left of the formerly snow pack trail across Nunaka Valley softball field--Ick.
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