Snow
8-10 inches of snow on the ground?
4-5 inches new
30 degrees
It began snowing about two am.
As warm as it had been yesterday, I was surprised to find two-three inches of snow on the truck when I went outside this morning. When I hit the Sterling Highway, I put the Suburban into four-wheel drive and kept it there all the way to work.
By the time I got to town, I was having flashbacks to last year, when we got hammered with snow in the days just before Christmas. The visibility was less than a mile in heavy snow and the only traffic I passed was a police car heading out of town and several plow truck working parking lots along my route.
Contrary to the usual pattern, the snow was heavier at sea level: when I turned onto Kachemak Drive, I was surprised to see six to eight inches of snow on the unplowed roadway. That the road was unplowed was significant, as the State boys usually will make a pass on the road when they get to work, but I could see, as I got to the station, that they had their hands full just trying to keep the runway open.
As I write this, two hours later, huge flakes of snow are still falling with no sign of lessening. Visibilities have been at one-half mile since I opened the station and the State crews have been working on the runway and ramp non-stop, trying to keep ahead of the snowfall. Snow is a foot high on the railings of the building. The road crews have apparently made one pass down Kachemak Drive--it looks like it has been plowed but less than two lanes wide.
I have the handbooks out, reviewing the loss-of-commercial-power procedures. Or I would be, if there were any written down.
The huge green area of heavy snow on the radar loop has been slowing drifting westward along its northern portion over Kenai and Anchorage but it appears to be flexing right at Homer and the low is forecast to be moving to sit on top of us during the morning. The mountains to the south block the radar's view of what may be coming. The forecaster, in a burst of dogged optimism, says right now we should be at thirty-five hundred overcast and seven miles visibility. But it is still very dark outside--I can't see the lights of town and those on the field seem to be fading as the snow thickens.
It's a good thing I like snow.
And I'm glad I drove the Suburban this morning....
4-5 inches new
30 degrees
It began snowing about two am.
As warm as it had been yesterday, I was surprised to find two-three inches of snow on the truck when I went outside this morning. When I hit the Sterling Highway, I put the Suburban into four-wheel drive and kept it there all the way to work.
By the time I got to town, I was having flashbacks to last year, when we got hammered with snow in the days just before Christmas. The visibility was less than a mile in heavy snow and the only traffic I passed was a police car heading out of town and several plow truck working parking lots along my route.
Contrary to the usual pattern, the snow was heavier at sea level: when I turned onto Kachemak Drive, I was surprised to see six to eight inches of snow on the unplowed roadway. That the road was unplowed was significant, as the State boys usually will make a pass on the road when they get to work, but I could see, as I got to the station, that they had their hands full just trying to keep the runway open.
As I write this, two hours later, huge flakes of snow are still falling with no sign of lessening. Visibilities have been at one-half mile since I opened the station and the State crews have been working on the runway and ramp non-stop, trying to keep ahead of the snowfall. Snow is a foot high on the railings of the building. The road crews have apparently made one pass down Kachemak Drive--it looks like it has been plowed but less than two lanes wide.
I have the handbooks out, reviewing the loss-of-commercial-power procedures. Or I would be, if there were any written down.
The huge green area of heavy snow on the radar loop has been slowing drifting westward along its northern portion over Kenai and Anchorage but it appears to be flexing right at Homer and the low is forecast to be moving to sit on top of us during the morning. The mountains to the south block the radar's view of what may be coming. The forecaster, in a burst of dogged optimism, says right now we should be at thirty-five hundred overcast and seven miles visibility. But it is still very dark outside--I can't see the lights of town and those on the field seem to be fading as the snow thickens.
It's a good thing I like snow.
And I'm glad I drove the Suburban this morning....
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