Still grey in Girdwood, Be aware of conditions around important trees

Grey and white, grey and white, grey in the sky, white mid-way down the mountain, grey on the ground. Above is a photo of Max’s Mountain. In the center of the photo you can see slide debris from an avalanche triggered this morning by the Alyeska Snow Safety crew. The tops of the mountains received 9 inches of snow Saturday night. If you have been wondering why the HIgh Traverse has not been open, this is one reason. The same area seen in the photo above that slid, has done so earlier in the season on its own. Be patient, let Snow Safety keep the trails safe for everyone to enjoy.

Due to the fresh snow every night for the past few nights, the mountain tops continue to be bathed in glorious white light. Conditions were wonderful for more experienced skiers who chose to ride chair 4 and chair 6. As for the rest of us, we were down in the grey. The grey of rain and drizzle, the grey of melting water running down the roads toward Glacier Creek, and the grey of gravel coated ice making it safe to walk on the ice. Below is a photo of Max’s from Saturday the 2nd of February. Except for the avalanche, you will notice there is no difference in the weather. The temperature continues to hover around 35°. 

Below is an environmental issue anyone who planted trees last year should be concerned about. Frankly, any of us with trees on our properties in the Glacier Valley or western Prince William Sound should be aware of the bases of our trees this winter. With all the days of warm temperatures and melting snow, many bases of trees have been exposed. I have mentioned this before and cautioned:  if the soil remains exposed, the roots could be subject to freezing air when the temperature drops. Of course we are all hoping now that one of our snowiest months is here, February, the soil will be blanketed again protecting the health of our trees.

There is another poor condition I have seen as well, smaller trees that did have snow build up around them, now have pools of water at their bases. The snow had melted and then the surface froze creating a little bowl at the base of the trees. With the continuous rain, these bowls have filled up with water.  If these trees sit with their bases in water too long, there is the potential the tree will drown. If you have a bowl of water at the base of your tree, get a shovel or ice chipper out and break the wall of the bowl so the water can drain away. 

Here is a link to BioScience, published by the University of California Press, this link is on the University of Alaska Fairbanks website. The first article is a research paper discussing how climate change will affect yellow cedar in the Pacific Northwest. The research article includes important information we in the rainforest area of Alaska should be aware of. 

A little cooler air and more snow in Girdwood

It is a few degrees cooler in Girdwood this morning, 33, and snow is sticking at sea level. There is avalanche mitigation at the resort and on the Seward hiway, check Alaska 511 for delay locations.

Here is our view today, it was very white most of the day. You can see the snow line has come down a bit, its about 400 feet! Yea! The cool air is settling back in. There was snow off and on today, the best news is there was no rain. The roads, however, are still wet and slushy. I did hear from folks that came in from Anchorage that there were delays of up to 45 minutes on the highway due to avalanche control. 

Something that has been fun about the weather warming up is seeing birds again. Magpies have been all around the house, investigating one tree after another. I have also see a pair of Steller Jays recently. One day last week a flock of some small birds flew overhead from a tall tree near the T in Girdwood. I know they have been finding food, not only do the stash nuts and seeds in tree bark, but I heard that a mosquito was seen near the park this past weekend. Thank goodness some more freezing weather is coming!

Sloppy roads in Girdwood, some indoor plants benefit from steam in the bath

So much for the blue sky dots yesterday, today was grey with drizzle all day. The temperature remains at 34° in Girdwood. The roads are nothing but slush, dirty, messy slushies. The walking path is mush, and forget Moose Meadows. The weather is warming up the surface making it fairly un-skiable. Check the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club site for current grooming information. They have groomed the new 5K trail, however, the ground is too soft to groom in Moose Meadows.

My inquisitions of locals that have lived here a long time tell me there has been one or two times when opening of chair 6 at Alyeska Resort happened as late as January or February (it opened today for the first time this season). Ski Patrol has posted a very informative notice on the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information site regarding the snow conditions at the Resort. This notice will be helpful to those who are avid top-of-the-mountain skiers to understand why North Face and so many outer areas are not open. It delivers some great information regarding avalanche occurrences and includes a good video.

For the plant lovers out there, you may be tempted to start your seeds now or be eyeing that newly exposed ground in your yard. Don't fall for the warm temperatures yet. February will be a better time to start seed. And we all know it will freeze again either this month or next. If you have indoor bromeliads or orchids a good way to keep them happy this time of year, when it is dry inside, is to hang them or place them in your bathroom. This way they can take advantage of the humidity from your shower or baths.  These types of plants take in moisture through their exposed parts, orchids especially. Just remember to keep them near a window or return them to a brightly lit area after their steam.

Above freezing in Girdwood with a break in the rain

Glacier City is receiving a nice break from precipitation and ultra-grey skies. The temperature, however, is still above freezing. It is 34° at the T this morning. As of noon, the resort is still firing rounds from the howitzer to try and clear potential avalanche danger. They started at 8 am this morning. There was a fair amount of snow on the upper mountain, snow looks like it held steady at about 5-700 feet elevation. At sea level, not so snowy. 

I like seeing the snow stuck on the trees on Max’s shoulder. That gives a better feeling of winter, which it should be! 

Thankfully there were no drunk driving accidents on New Year’s. There were some calls for cold exposure, which in a way was a drunk accident. Drunk kids not realizing they were too cold because they were so inebriated. 

The Resort had an accident due to high winds. A gust blew a tram car into the tower carrying the cables. See more about it on this news website. Everyone made it to the base safely and there were no major injuries. Quite an exciting way to begin a new year! 

Parts of the earth remain exposed to the air today in Girdwood. If you planted new trees this past year, you would do well to mulch around their bases to protect tender roots from freezing the next time the temperature drops. Trimmed tree limbs with needles still on them make good mulch, or you can purchase shredded wood mulch at any garden center. 

Here is a view up Glacier Creek toward Raven Glacier. There are areas on the creek where the water is melting over the snow, seen in the center right. Normally the snow and ice would be covering more of the creek flow and the flow under the bridge. There is no snow under the bridge. 

This is what we like to see in Girdwood

Snow on everything and a cloud bank indication more snow. Here is a nice view toward town, Penguin Ridge on the left. Nice, because everything is covered in snow!!! They have been small wettish flakes however, the temperature has been between 32 and 34, oh so close. At night it did stay around 28.

Walking to work today, the snow was that mushy kind, really slid under the feet making walking weird. The temperature this morning was 30. I was afraid of it warming up and turning to sleet but that did not happen. Between 10 a and noon, there was a great snow shower and flakes were larger than yesterday. That was a good sight.

By 6pm, the snow had stopped, the precipitation was small wet spittle. Wet enough that it did not blow off the windshield. 

The Weather and Snowpack presentation was good at the Glacier Ranger Station. Wendy Wagner presented slides  on how to do column tests and what the snow density ratings mean. F- fist, 4-four fingers, 1-one finger, P-pencil, K-knife. So, before you go back country skiing or snowmachining, check the CNFAIC website for avalanche warnings, great pictures of avalanches, and snow column tests. For good detailed information, check the Observations. There are always good descriptions of snow pack, snow events from specific locations that can help you make an informed decision. There was helpful input from locals of situations to look out for. Jim from Girdwood Ski and Cyclery gave the typical Girdwood response to questions of prediction for the season “it always seems to work itself out into good snow” kind of paraphrased. He also gave this tip: don’t park under trees laden with snow, he has seen big dumps crush car tops! This is part of a series on avalanche safety presented by the forest service and Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center.

There was a small earthquake or tremor felt in Girdwood early this morning. I hope that shook loose some of that snow on top of the unstable hoar for those back country folks. 

Here is a shot of my driveway tonight, you can see some depth in the tire tracks. Mostly,  its damp, 30° (yikes) but holding. The resort is making snow, the fog is so dense, you cannot even see the mountain lights until you are right up close to the T. Good to see the lights on, right?

The other reason I want to show this picture, that is my husband just returning with Girdwood Fire and Rescue. There was a single car roll-over accident at mile 92.5 of the Seward highway last night. The car was a Range Rover and there were two passengers. The car flipped and landed next to the railroad tracks. The observation was, the road looked clear but never believe it now! There will always be a layer of ice right on the surface pavement. And no matter what kind of vehicle you have, don’t give the vehicle more credit that it has against weather!