Weather Chaos

What a goofy winter, the weather is all over the map, and is reminding me of my teen years back home.  A couple days at -30°C, then a couple days of 0°C, and a variety in between.  I also caught some pix from Washington state where they have had weather all over the map as well.

I wish the weather would settle, give me my 15' of snow stay at a nice comfortable -10°C, and keep it there until spring.  Then a slow, casual melt to refill the rivers, lakes and sloughs.  Keep the migratory birds, and me, happy. 

I must be old, now I'm complaining about the weather ....

More Later ....
G.

The Week In Review

While I'm trying to do something every day to every other day, I've been a little swamped as I'm getting ready for my vacation.  I'm going to a baptism/christening in San Luis Potosí, México. So I'm going to do a quick summary of my irks from the week and may come back to elaborate on the general themes when time permits.

Government Stupidity

The Prime Minister of Canada prorogued parliament.  Basically, because he tried to bully the opposition parties, they began to fight back by trying to form a coalition.  The coalition would have been able to over throw the government.  So the Prime Minister suspended parliament, rather than face a non-confidence vote, only 1 week into the post election session.

Recession

With the general economic conditions around the world, Canada's Central Bank finally said the "R" word, and dropped interest rates.  I will have to wait until later to cuss on this topic.

Weather

We went from 10°C above seasonal to 10°C below seasonal in 24 hours.  I don't mind -25°C weather but only after I've had a couple days at -10°C and a couple at -15°C.  Also, on the night of the moon perigee, we had overcast blowing crap as the weather fronts moved through. So I didn't get a chance to try the obligatory full moon pix and now have to wait for another ~16 years. I forgot about the perigee until I started scanning articles on New Scientist  web site.

When the weather was above seasonal, it was messy and slushy outside, so I wasn't super amused.  I want snow, but I want it to be -10°C with 30cm of snow, not +1°C with freezing rain, and then a melting mess. I guess I'm just never satisfied.

More Later....
G

PS: as I'm writing this post, it is -30°C with the effective temperature hovering around -38°C (-36°F), it should be -15°C (~5°F).

It's snowing :)

It's snowing!! Not sure about the accumulation yet, but it's more than a wisp. It's also cooling off so I finally had to close the windows and the balcony door of my flat.  Kjell is much more affectionate since the flat is a little cooler that he likes.  He is not the same as my previous companion Meisha, but he is still a good cat.  He is less of a 'fraidy cat than he was, but he is still pretty skiddish.


More Later ....
G.

Back To The Weather.

I managed to sneak out for a couple hours on Sunday and checked the back country.  Well, there is a touch more snow, but nothing of consequence.  It also seems it's been below zero enough that most of the standing water is frozen.  On a couple of the range roads I was on, there were even icy patches big enough to remind me it's time to re-learn my winter driving skills. (Note to self: don't park the car in a ditch this season)


I was able to do a drive by of Astotin Lake in Elk Island National Park.  OMG, the water levels, they are non-existent.  While I can't exactly walk to a couple of the "islands", mostly because the ground is still fairly saturated, once the frost sets in, definitely.  So depressing, you don't have water fowl without water. It won't be too long and we will end up having a big old alkali flat. Reminds me of Pakowki Lake, in Southern Alberta.  A large intermittent lake that we tried to visit a number of times in my childhood without success.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snoooowwwww.....

More Later....
G

Still Waiting ....

Well I'm still waiting, with no real precip insight.  We had a whisp in the morning, but again all gone... We are running approximately 10°C above seasonal and no end in sight..... it's hard to find animal tracks in the hard pack, more importantly, most of the sloughs I frequent are dry.  Some have even been tilled by the land owner. 

More later.....
G.

Still no snow :(

We had a wisp of snow, and a couple of drops of freezing rain, but nope .... no real snow :'( and it's still unseasonably warm.

More Later....
G

Let It Snow, Let It Snow.

When I was walking home from work today, I saw the first flakes of snow.... FINALLY.  In my travels around the country side far too many of my favorite sloughs are dry. We need several inches of rain, or several feet of snow.  Something.  Anything. How can you take pics of puddle ducks, if there are no puddles!!

More Later
G.

April Snow Brings.......

The April weather in Alberta is suspect at best.  I usually don't get too bent outta shape until after the May Long weekend ( there is a 50-50 chance of snow for the official start of the summer festivities).   We've had two major storms each of the weekends that I haven't been working.

I tried going out durring the first one, and well, I parked my car in the ditch, and no photos to show for the adventure.

This weekend, the roads in the area where I would be eagle spotting, were closed.  The eagles, follow the bird migrations, and so the window of oportunity to catch them is small.  I was too late last year, only a couple of "look what I saw" pix, nothing that I would now deem as usable.  A few years ago maybe, but not now. 

If April showers bring May flowers, what do April blizaards bring?  I don't care about the cold, and the snow is great.  just not when the hiways have zero visiblity.  It looks like snow all week as well... maybe next weekend, and hopefully the eagles are still around, and I can find them....

They were around Calgary area, a couple weeks back, so I may already be too late for the spring migrations.... but there is always fall....

More Later....
G