cold

Tracking Wind

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Wind Sculpted Snow

Temperatures remained quite cold, but winds diminished significantly by later this afternoon. It was interesting to see all the polished ice intermixed with thin patches of wind sculpted snow. As windy as it got here over the last couple of days, it was much stronger elsewhere.

From today’s weather synopsis: 

THE WEATHER PATTERN THAT CAUSED FREQUENT WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FROM JUNEAU TO SKAGWAY AND THE CENTRAL OUTER
COAST IS GRADUALLY WEAKENING. THE HIGHEST MEASURED WIND GUST WAS
150 MPH /130 KNOTS/ AT SHEEP MOUNTAIN SOUTH OF JUNEAU AT 3540
FEET ELEVATION. HIGHEST WIND GUST AT SEA LEVEL WAS 103 MPH /90
KNOTS/ AT CAPE SPENCER IN CROSS SOUND.

Forecast is for relative calm tomorrow and winds picking back up later in the week s a low approaches the coast of British Columbia. Fortunately, temperatures are also forecast to rise.

Pictures from today were taken as I walked across Swan Lake near sunset – hence the shift towards blue and lack of brightness (though I could have neutralized these things in processing, I found the contrast on the snow made it easier to see the texture and shapes if I left it as it was).

I didn’t notice too much unusual in the way of birds today, but one thing did stand out – there were three Great Blue Herons flying south over Swan Lake as I started across it. Perhaps they had all been roosting in trees around the lake and were headed to the beach for low tide. There certainly wasn’t any open water for them to fish around the lake.

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Big Wind

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Blowing Snow

I spent much of the day sleeping today, still trying to fight off a cold. My brother and I did walk down to the library this afternoon to watch a presentation on pack rafting in Alaska. Winds were pretty stiff coming and going. It was blowing pretty much out of the east, so at our backs on the walk there, but gusting right in our faces on the way back. Combined with temperatures in the teens, it was a chilling walk.

I’ve been paying more attention to snow blowing off the peaks during this recent spell of cold/clear weather, so it was interesting today to see how few peaks could actually be seen. Skies were clear overall, but my guess is that white-out conditions prevailed on most of the higher snow laden peaks. It would be interesting to see the snow sculptures that must have been created with drifts being deposited and carved by the wind.

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Dropping Temperatures

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Mt. Edgecumbe

Not much outside time today – pretty much just my walk over to UAS (and a hurried one, at that).

Temperatures have started dropping again, with the forecast for even colder overnight and tomorrow. Outside of the wind, today’s temperatures weren’t bad, but a breeze that seemed to be variable out of the Southeast (mostly) and East made things seem quite a bit colder. It seemed odd for the wind to be out of the Southeast when that’s more associated with low pressure, clouds and rainy. I suspect it was really more of an East wind, but the topography of the island resulted in the wind getting bent around to come out of the Southeast in the downtown area. It was mostly clear, but there were some high level cirrus clouds as well as some lower clouds that formed around some of the mountains.

On my way across the bridge I noticed a Raven carrying a stick flying from near the fuel dock (where I first saw it, anyway) south under the bridge to where it landed in a tree on Turning Island. I took a brief look, but couldn’t make out a nest or anything where I saw it land, but I did not have time for an extended investigation.

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