8:00 am temp: 14
Yesterday: 32/17
Normal: 29/14
Corn spilled along the train tracks
This morning I saw a young doe get hit by the train. It was the Amtrak train that hit her, but she was on the tracks feeding on corn spilled from a freight train.
We went down and dragged her body off the tracks and called the food bank to see if they could come harvest the meat.
Rest in peace girl, you just didn’t understand about trains.
14 ° Continue reading
8:00 am temp: 12
Yesterday: 11/3
Normal: 30/17
Ice has started forming along the edges of the lake.
Looking out toward the street this morning.
The ice grows mostly at night. It started three days ago, and each day it extends farther out into the lake. Already more of the lake is covered with ice than at any point last winter.
It warmed up to 12 at our house yesterday, so Tess and I resumed our mid-day walks. A couple weeks ago that would have seemed cold.
This morning we woke up to 7 or 8 inches of fluffy snow and big flakes coming down.
8:00 am temp: 6
Yesterday: 8/-14
Normal: 31/17
Well, I didn’t hibernate yesterday after all. The sun came out and we were lured outside to try skating on the Whitefish River.
There was good, thick ice on the river. Steve chopped a couple holes with his hatchet and at about 4 inches down there was still no sign of water. The surface was pretty good, slightly bumpy, and there was a thin layer of snow on top.
We skated for miles, the only ones on the river, except for…the person who had planted the idea, Don Scharfe, and his wife. I forgot my camera, so above is a video Steve shot.
I enjoyed the changing views and the quiet of cruising down the river. There’s snow in the forecast, which may mean the end of ice skating, but there could be some good skiing on the river ahead this winter.
8:00 am temp: -5
Yesterday: 4/-13
Normal: 31/17
Thin sheets of ice collect along the shore
I came home last night around 11:30. It was -10 at our house. It took a while to warm up my toes. I’m hunkered down at home today.
We saw the first signs of ice forming on the lake yesterday, thin sheets that the wind had pushed up against the shore.
A friend who lives south of town told me she saw what looked like a big cloud yesterday morning, which was the plume of steam coming off the lake. It’s amazing how long it takes, even in this severe cold, for the water temperature in the lake to drop to freezing.
Forecast for tonight, Dec. 6
Tonight’s forecast contains some numbers we don’t see very often. Minus 46 F, wonder what that feels like. Should I venture outside in the night to find out?
8:00 am temp: 1
Yesterday: 18/-4
Normal: 32/18
Steam rising off the lake this morning. It was 2 degrees F according to our thermometer.
It’s been cold here this week, and will get even colder. A second Arctic front is expected to arrive tomorrow, bringing wind and lows of -16 and -19 F the next couple nights. That’s serious winter the likes of which we haven’t seen in several years.
I’m thinking it looks good for the lake to freeze this year. That usually means some good skiing.
Backyard Climate Report 