Freezing Fog

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Freezing Fog? Ouch. Bottom line is the planes didn't take off or land. Little planes as well as the jets in Juneau. So day one of this Mexico vacation starts and ends, at home in Alaska. Which is OK, although I missed dinner with a friend. I was going over to Juneau a day early, just in case there were weather issues - a common strategy here this time of year. The jet south is tomorrow afternoon, maybe. What will it be in the morning... more freezing fog?

On my way to the airport this morning I was struck by the clear roads and partially clear woods. In the last two weeks we've had torrents of rain, driving rain, followed by mountains of snow and now back to rain again. There are parts of town close to the ocean that are almost snow free. But areas in the west, in the woods where I live, have lots of snow. My little yard is a snow hole, surrounded by big trees it receives very little direct light. Snow piles up and it lasts. There's still a foot and a half out there. But in the woods next to the house it is clear under the big trees. The trees catch the snowfall on their limbs and it sublimates and melts faster.

During the big snowfall it was incredibility calm and the snow piled up on the spruce and pine limbs. Trees were sagging and braking. In one 3 mile section on the main road I counted 60 fallen trees. The state has 2 employees here that maintain the airport and the state portion of the main road. They must have been up all night clearing trees off the roads. Lots of folks here carry their own chain saws just to get in and out of their side roads. A friend at work used a tow line with his pickup to pull trees off the road in order to get to work.

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Comments

[Nathan Borson]

A thousand words for frozen water?
I wonder if the eskimos (Inuit) have a name for the hard, smooth, slippery kind of ice that freezes onto your windshield and has to be chipped off with a jackhammer.

[Jim Maddry]

Good luck!
Hey Bill - Good luck getting to Mexico. I love seeing the photos of the snow since we have none here, but I imagine you're ready to be done with it for a while. - Jim