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!