Calm before the Storm . . .


Waking up this morning after a weekend of constant snowfall it was piled high as one would expect but overnight it was crystal clear with stars shining and an awesome full moon hanging above the horizon.  The moon large on the western sky as I drove to work with temperatures dropping from 14 degrees last evening to about minus seven this morning.

My rig struggled to get warm by the time I made my short drive to work.  I had used my auto-start about 10 minutes before leaving home but with the cold temps it takes it a few miles to feel warm inside my auto. 

Work was a typical Monday with meetings, working through the logistical problems with getting material shipped to remote villages.  As the day wore on I needed to go to our shipping yard to look at a conex (big metal shipping container) that I was preparing to ship to my project in Larsen Bay.  Today was clear, calm, and cold staying about minus 4 by mid afternoon.

This was the calm before the next storm expected to start arriving again after midnight.  The approaching storm is expected to be bigger than the one just leaving and another is queued up out to see close to Japan and Hawaii heading this way.

I finished my work at the yard and climbed the hill going back toward 5th Avenue heading east towards the Chugach Mountains.  The setting sun was just starting to have the glow on the snow cover.  It would start with a bright orange and slowly start fading in intensity and hue going to a really beautiful pink color before fading into the grays before darkness sets in.

As I drove the full moon was again rising over the Chugach making its way back into the afternoon sky.  During this time of year the moon sets for a few hours making the path of its arc just below the visible horizon and after about 6 to 7 hours will rise again for it long night ride across the heavens.

It’s rising and setting brings with it a much large moon than normally seen in the summer months when it is farther away.  It is interesting to see for those brief couple of months the moon rising shortly before the sun sets in the western sky all within about a 20 minute period as one appears and the other vanishes from view.

Shortly or later tonight the clouds will roll in, temperatures will rise slightly and the winds will pick up.  Blizzard conditions will again hit many areas of south central Alaska bringing more snow and possible wind damage.  It has been a tough winter already this season with another 3-4 months to go before we start to enjoy the beauty of springtime.

Much of the Lower 48 has not had the normal snowfall and many places that should have had plenty already are still barren with fall like temperatures.  There have been a few storms but this year seems to have given way to some of the bad Midwest storms in years past.

A beautiful day ends here, a nice glass of Beringer as I write this post and the expectations of a noisy night with the wind howling outside my windows.  All in all not a bad day.

Ice

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