Anyone who has read even just a bit of this blog over the years knows I love winter’s cold and snow and, since moving to semi-rural south central Alaska in 2013, I’ve been very disappointed with the winter weather. In general, the temps have been above to well above historical averages resulting in rain/freezing rain in January and February – according to long time locals something unheard of just five years back – and often we’ve seen a dearth of precipitation. The winter of 2017-2018 was shaping up to be the driest winter since I moved up here; this was frustrating because we’ve seen plenty of cool temps. But we just couldn’t seem to buy any precipitation, at least until this past Sunday (02/11) afternoon…
NWS correctly predicted the snow event and posted a ‘Winter Weather Advisory’ for this area calling for 6″ (15.24 cm) to 12″ (30.48 cm) with localized amounts to 16″ (40.64 cm) but these were expected well north of Talkeetna and in the Hatcher Pass area. We saw significant snowfall from Sunday afternoon through Monday evening; when all was said and done I measured a total of 14.75″ (37.47 cm). That was the largest amount of snow I’ve seen from a single snow event since I moved up here and it raised our snow pack from a well below average 25.5″ (64.77 cm) to a respectable 39.0″ (99.06 cm). Kudos to NWS for a timely and accurate forecast!
To me, this area is at its most beautiful after a sizable snow fall as we generally do not see much wind with such events and hence the trees are shrouded in a thick coat of pristine white. So I thought I’d share a few images from this most welcome winter snow event:
The S and W sides of my humble abode as seen from the the location of one of my sat dishes
The boreal forest just to the south of my driveway with the bottom of my wind chimes just visible
This is how ya clear snow! My neighbor (Roland) at work with is front end loader
Doggie snow depth indicators; my male GSD (Qanuk) is 86 pounds and my female Alaskan Mal (Anana) is 112 pounds
Qanuk deciding there’s too much snow to try romping down East Barge Drive
The day after the snow event…
Alaskan at Last! 
Hooray! You must be in hog heaven! That should cheer you up! I will tell you that we can see snow on “our” mountain and that’s good enough for us. But it does remind us of you and your love of the white stuff. I just returned from the visit from hell to the Detroit area and was stuck in Metro for a day and a half. It was treacherous getting to the airport on Saturday morning and then they kept delaying my flight. They finally decided to postpone it until the next morning at 6 a.m. So I spent the night and at 6 a.m. they postponed it again and again and again. So, after about 1 p.m., I had had it since nothing was moving and they continued to tease us with 2-4 hr delays. No way did I intend to be their guest for another night! And knowing that the weather was forecasted to be better, I rescheduled for Monday am, called my cousin to come and rescue me. She picked me up, I spent the night and returned then. What a madhouse it was and I almost didn’t make that flight! Now I’m very thankful to be home and will stay put for a good while, believe me! Again, so happy that you got an early Valentine’s gift! Loved the pics. Stay well and in touch! Me.
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Though we both appreciate a good snowfall what you just received was just like the straw that pushed this camel out of Alaska. Unable to shovel that much snow and trapped for almost two weeks Texas was starting to look really good. Enjoy your snow and cooler weather…
I can appreciate your sentiments, Pete. I can deal with the snow because I have an almost fail safe means of clearing my driveway which involves just $30/clearing which is a bargain! Even after Roland cleared my driveway I couldn’t go anywhere – which was fine by me – until the borough grader came through around 21:00…