8 Seconds

December 21st, the first day of winter or otherwise known as winter solstice... AKA "the shortest...darkest... day of the year," has come and gone. Due to the hustle and bustle of last minute Christmas shopping, we didn't really notice the darkness. However, this morning on the way to work, we were very excited to hear the radio personality announce that we are now gaining... she said it twice.. "gaining 8 seconds of day light per day"! This afternoon we were even greeted by a couple hours of blue sky and sunlight for the first time in three weeks! Here is a picture from the Analytica parking lot, no we were not able to take off on a whom and enjoy the sun... We are saving that basic Alaskan right for fishing season.

Our co-worker Jackie explained that this warmer weather is caused by the Chinook Winds. No...not the name of the dog in the movie "The Lost Boys"...no vampires here... Chinook winds are named because they come from the lower Columbia River, west of the Rocky Mountains. The term originated during the fur trade, which then spread to the prairies.

As stated on http://www.chinookwinds.com/ A popular myth is that Chinook means "snow eater", as a strong Chinook wind can make snow one foot deep almost vanish in one day. The snow partly melts and partly evaporates in the dry wind. Chinook winds have been observed to raise winter temperature, often from below -20°C (-4°F) to as high as 10°C to 20°C (50°F to 68°F) for a few hours or days, then temperatures plummet to their base levels. The greatest recorded temperature change in 24 hours was caused by Chinook winds on January 15, 1972, in Loma, Montana; the temperature rose from -48°C (-56°F) to 9°C (49°F).

We think that an 8 second gain of daylight and warm Chinook winds can be explained scientifically but it feels like an early Christmas present from old St. Nick!

A Little fun in the Snow

Work is work and play is play... We have had a long couple of weeks leading up to Christmas. Amid all of the last minute shopping, work has been very busy. All those folks who wait until the end of the year for annual water testing are driving Kelly mad, and Ryan had to fly to Juneau for a week to help out the lab on short notice. So, we took a MUCH deserved play day to go test out one of our local sled spots. We found this hill just a short ways from the house. After a few warm-up runs and stretches, we began blazing a few descent sled runs out of the fresh snow.

Once we had the runs sufficiently packed out for maximum speed and distance; we finished out the day polishing up our trick sledding skills, before retiring to a cold car and a little hot chocolate.

All in all we had a great time! We just hope we did not creep out the locals with our lack of appropriate "sled-aged" followers. Hey, we were just checking out the hill for the nieces and nephews… should be OK. But we’ll keep looking for a better one, just in case.

Home Sweet Whoa!

The fog rolled in this morning around 6am and rolled out around noon. The sun came out and made the town literally sparkle with glittering ice. The moist foggy air froze and covered the entire city in miniature ice crystals. The trees, without leaves, appeared to be very large snowflakes. When the sun went down there was a pink highlight on the frozen landscape that made everything look like pink cotton candy. We felt like we were living in a ornamental snow globe.

When the workday ended we drove home only to be greeted by a mysterious, large shape in the distance. We quickly scanned the area and noticed our neighbor (with two small children) looking in the same direction. We took the long way into our home, just to be safe.

What is tall, brown, hairy and looks like a horse?......What do you try not feed so it won't come in your house?

A Moose!

This lady, we would like to call Emma, has been hanging around in our neck of the woods. We have seen her from a distance but this was the closest that she has come to our home. Notice the size of an overloaded dumpster... she was just as tall....

Raining in Anchorage

It is 35 degrees and raining today! It's odd to see huge piles of snow and fresh rain melding together! I guess it's time to buy some ice cleats and studded snow tires!

You know it's icy when you can see lights reflecting off the road as you are driving!