First Snow - Well at Least First Dusting of Snow

30 September 2012
8:38 AM

Sunrise at	8:00 AM	in direction	96°	East
Sunset at	7:20 PM	in direction	264°	West

Duration of day: 11 hours, 20 minutes (6 minutes, 37 seconds shorter than yesterday)

Snow dusting the deck, tree, and yard

I searched back through my journal posts and have not found a date when I predicted, on paper, that the first dusting of snow should be the last of September.  I was using the fireweed fuzz indicator as the basis for my prediction.  I did find Changing Seasons where I posted photos of the fireweed completely bereft of bloom and full of fuzz.  That was August 28, 2012, nearly five weeks ago and not the first day I'd noticed the blooms were gone. 

I did tell my husband that if using fireweed as an indicator was accurate, we should see snow the last of September or the first week of October, which was early.  He laughed saying that wasn't too hard to predict as snow fell about that time each year.  Ah, but the subtle interplay of days is what's in question.

In my reckoning, using the wood stove for heat and having snow on the ground, even if just a dusting, at the end of September is early.  Mid to late October is more the time when snow falls for the first time.  Then we can assume that the first snow that does not melt will fall around the time of my daughter's birthday, October 19.  The forecast had been for the scattered snow showers over several days, but I see now that it will warm back up over next week - which is good.  I still have wood to stack and an invisible fence to install.

The first year we moved to Alaska, 2006, we drove up from Colorado in mid-October and there was snow along the Alaska Range around Destruction Lake.  That was the only stretch of road there was snow on the trip.  We were thankful that was the only place we encountered those conditions.  Sections of the road were still thick ridges of slush that had frozen over night.  Even for Colorado drivers who'd driven through horrendous storms, pulling a UHaul trailer with regular Michelin tires across those roads required vigilence for 100 miles.  We came out of snow just above the border crossing from Canada into Alaska.  Snow did not fall until it was late October or early November that year.  Everyone was saying it was late for snow.

Now, of course, the analytical part of my brain steps in and I need to go back to see if I can find records of the first snow fall - dusting or otherwise.  But, the wisdom of the saying is essentially if you need to travel south, get it done because weather conditions will not be good along critical mountain passes soon.  We certainly experienced that, and during a winter that settled in later than usual.

Interestingly, those that are leaving the state most often leave early summer, as soon as the passes are free of snow.  Looks like we are committed to another winter in Interior Alaska.