Mid-Winter Thaw
If you caught my post for yesterday yesterday, you would have seen just photos. I didn't get a chance to write the captions until this morning.
The reason? Our big thaw finally arrived.
Warmer temperatures, accompanied by wind and rain, were firmly established by yesterday morning. The Anchorage area experienced the heat wave in the form of freezing rain, which partially paralyzed the city. And you know when the weather is so bad that Alaskans cancel school--that's serious weather.
Here in the Homer area, the rain didn't freeze. But since it was falling on packed ice in some areas and a foot of snow in others, the result was quite a mess. Side roads were sheets of wet ice. Fortunately, the highway and major roads through town were bare. But due to the rapid rise in temperatures on top of the intense cold of last week, the storm drains were frozen and the streets were awash by afternoon.
Just before sundown, a fresh wave of rain blew in on gale-force winds, polishing the ice to a lethal slickness. We got involved with trying to rescue a friend who was in a ditch on the other side of our block and came home a hour later tired and soaked to the skin. I uploaded a few photos quickly then the lights began to flicker and we knew we needed to shut the computers down.
So my entry for yesterday didn't get captions until this morning...
Oh--and our phone service went out last night.
So neither bright or early this morning, I went into town to make sure ACS knew we had no phone service. Turns out I wasn't the only one waiting at the phone company's store to complain about lack of service. We were assured that the problem was being worked on.
This is our little side road from the highway heading home. Notice how much of the snow is gone.
Notice how the meltwater is flowing over the road...
Yeah--real pleasant weather. I actually prefer it twenty degrees colder.
The reason? Our big thaw finally arrived.
Warmer temperatures, accompanied by wind and rain, were firmly established by yesterday morning. The Anchorage area experienced the heat wave in the form of freezing rain, which partially paralyzed the city. And you know when the weather is so bad that Alaskans cancel school--that's serious weather.
Here in the Homer area, the rain didn't freeze. But since it was falling on packed ice in some areas and a foot of snow in others, the result was quite a mess. Side roads were sheets of wet ice. Fortunately, the highway and major roads through town were bare. But due to the rapid rise in temperatures on top of the intense cold of last week, the storm drains were frozen and the streets were awash by afternoon.
Just before sundown, a fresh wave of rain blew in on gale-force winds, polishing the ice to a lethal slickness. We got involved with trying to rescue a friend who was in a ditch on the other side of our block and came home a hour later tired and soaked to the skin. I uploaded a few photos quickly then the lights began to flicker and we knew we needed to shut the computers down.
So my entry for yesterday didn't get captions until this morning...
Oh--and our phone service went out last night.
So neither bright or early this morning, I went into town to make sure ACS knew we had no phone service. Turns out I wasn't the only one waiting at the phone company's store to complain about lack of service. We were assured that the problem was being worked on.
This is our little side road from the highway heading home. Notice how much of the snow is gone.
Notice how the meltwater is flowing over the road...
Yeah--real pleasant weather. I actually prefer it twenty degrees colder.
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