8:00 am temp: 8
Yesterday: 29/8
Normal: 29/15
Plenty of snow out there, and the most ice we’ve seen yet this year on the lake.
We got 8 inches of new, fluffy snow in about an hour on Friday evening. It’s made for great skiing.
Today is going to be sunny, cold, and beautiful. Forecast high of 11 with wind chill of minus 10. We’re headed out for a day of cross country skiing.
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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.
8:00 am temp: 30
Yesterday: 29/26
Normal: 20/27
Just a typical winter day at State Park. Tess and I decided to forego the swimming.
There was a fine, light snow falling today. More in the forecast the next few days, along with a cold front. Calling for a low of -3 Fahrenheit Wednesday. Last year we didn’t have any subzero weather.
We’re headed to the town of Hot Springs, where even if we don’t see the sun we can sit outdoors and soak in hot mineral water. It’s a good winter coping technique.
8:00 AM temp: 21
Yesterday: 28/23
Normal: 34/21
Four-legged icicle.
There were some interesting ice formations along the edge of Whitefish Lake yesterday.
What a beautiful planet we live on.
8:00 AM temp: 49
Yesterday: 62/46
Normal: 66/39
Spring green
I heard some noise this morning and went outside to shoo away any woodpeckers that were attacking the roof or exhaust vents, as they occasionally do, and saw two flickers sparring. Ah, Spring.
Someone is excited to have plants and flowers on the deck this summer. But mid-May is still a bit early for potted plants in this climate – a low of 30 is forecast in a few days. I’ll have to baby them.
I’ve recently returned from the red rock country of southern Utah. Arrived home at night and woke up to Spring, definitely with a capital ‘S’. The view out the window has turned aggressively green. The aspen are especially vivid.
Fortunately the male robin who was valiantly conquering his reflection last Spring, and making a mess of the windows on one side of the house, has not turned in a repeat performance. I was in the process of buying the house at that time and it was vacant, so he was free to bully his reflection undisturbed. Hopefully having residents in the house will dissuade him from picking up the gauntlet again.
8:00 AM temp: 30
Yesterday: 40/26
Normal: 56/31
There’s a cold wind blowing today. Even Tess decided it was too cold to swim. She thought it was a good day to work on some of her other jobs, chasing sticks on dry land and rolling in the grass. She works hard at
keeping her skills current.
8:00 AM temp: 39
Yesterday: 52/22
Normal: 55/31
Spring visitors
The deer are back. And so am I, after travels south to find the sun. The grass is starting to green up, but there is snow in the hills and the forecast calls for an inch or two of snow here in the valley today. The fluctuations of spring.
There is something comforting about watching the ebb and flow of the seasons. It feels eternal, timeless, certain. Yet, this is an illusion. The earth bears the marks of historic variations in climate, from ice ages to warmer periods. But no change has occurred as rapidly as the one that we are currently in the early stages of. What will spring look like here in 10 years?
8:00 AM temp: 25
Yesterday: 39/27
Normal: 48/27
There are a couple dozen swans on the lake this morning. I’ve been watching them through the telescope, white bodies floating on the gray water with snow lightly falling. It’s beautiful in a Japanese, wintry sort of way.
Tundra or trumpeter swans? I can’t tell from this distance.
8:00 AM temp: 31
Yesterday: 50/29
Normal: 47/27
Mountain reflection
Yesterday evening we walked down by the lake after a rainy afternoon. Water had pooled on top of the small amount of ice that is left, creating a still surface for reflections.
It wasn’t so still along the edge of the ice, however. There the waves were causing the ice to fracture and were pushing smaller pieces of ice on top of the larger slabs. You could hear a tinkling sound, like ice cubes in a glass, as the waves jostled the ice fragments against each other.
Ice breakup
8:00 AM temp: 30
Yesterday: 44/16
Normal: 47/26
A February morning on the mountain
Despite the mild winter, the local ski hill has had a pretty good snow year. As of today, Whitefish Mountain Resort, formerly known as The Big Mountain, has a snowpack of 112 inches (285 cm) at the summit (elevation 6817 ft or 2078 m), and 30 inches (77 cm) at the village area (elevation 4464 ft or 1361 m). That’s a little less at the bottom of the hill than in recent years, but very respectable at the summit.
Most of the lifts and ski runs are on south-facing slopes, which may make the area particularly vulnerable to warming temperatures in coming years. Fingers crossed that we have many more winters of skiing there.
Backyard Climate Report 