First Snow This Year

I am way late reporting the first snow which fell on October 20th.
It was unusual snow for this part of the world since it was wet and heavy. Usually here you get what I call "squeaky" snow, light and fluffy and a LOT easier to shovel!

Here was our first snow fall!  There was quite a bit.

Just a brief update and travel plans

In early April I am supposed to go to South Africa.
Between now and then I am planning a small road trip in the States but right now I am in Calgary looking at the weather map, and the jet-stream in particular and it does not look good.

Still I will hit the road soon.

A Cold Night

Last night got quite cold, but the cabin stayed warm.... but it sure takes a LOT more wood to keep it warm.

That's in the minus part of the thermometer:

This morning I wanted to drive to town so I had to start the generator to plug in the block heater of the truck (a heating system for the engine so you can start it, for the non-canadians), after two and a half hours the truck started, but not easily. It was so cold that even turning the key in the ignition was stiff. And once I started driving I realize that I had "square tires". The spot where the tires were sitting stays flat until the tires warm up, which does not take very long at all, but at first it is a bit of a weird thing.

The afternoon before I went for a long walk, it wasn't -41, it was -31C (-24F) but I decided to wear a balaclava because it was windy and it is hard on the exposed part of the face. This is what I looked like at the end of my walk, after about an hour and a half outside.

 I know it looks weird, but it was worth it. What would have been a harsh walk (on the face) was truly a very pleasant walk thanks to my balaclava (truly that sounds like a Greek desert to me "balaklava")

Here are some more snowscapes.

Canadian Thanks Giving Weekend

This year Tanks Giving in Canada was Monday October 13th. I drove to Hay River to spend it with some friends there. When I arrived in Hay River which is where the Hay River reaches the Great Slave Lake, I was surprised to see how there was a lot more leaves on the trees and things were generally not as "wintery" as where I am.

Beautifully bright crab apples in somebody's yard.

Still the fall colours were out

One of the best things about Hay River from my point of view is the lake. I love going for walks along the lake shore.

But once Thanks Giving was gone,  but before I left, I woke up to this and delayed my return home for a couple of days so I wouldn't have to drive on sloppy wet and half frozen snow.

The Cold Weather is Here

Four days ago was the first snow, and the nights have been very cold ever since.

The Mississippi Basin

Here is a map of the Mississippi Basin, meaning the area of land which is drained by the Mississippi River. (the image is from the US Army Corps of Engineers)

I am thinking about it because this part of the world is going through yet another winter storm that the BBC is labeling a "Fast-falling snow storm"... I am not sure what they mean by "fast-falling snow". I did notice though that they write in the same article that "The storm will be followed by near-record low temperatures on Tuesday"....tomorrow...... It is a shame because the magnolias, the camellias, the daffodils, the ornamental plum trees and many other plants are all in bloom.

Anyway, originally I wanted to look at the map of the basin because I was thinking about how much water this is going to be once the weather warms up and the snow melts.
I would imagine that the Mississippi River will have major floods this year.

Ice on Cacti

Just like most of the States Alpine is getting pounded by cold weather coming in waves after waves.
Because Alpine is quite far south what are winter storms further north reach us here as cold fronts so it isn't so terrible. Most of the moisture here is in the form of fog. So far we have had no snow, or just a few flakes falling but not enough to make a layer on the ground.

Today at noon it is -7C (20F), and tonight is predicted to go to -10C (17F). I honestly would never have guessed that this part of Texas was getting this cold in winter. Alpine is after all at 30 degree North.
To put things in perspective Calgary is at 51 degree North, New York is at 40 degree North and Los Angeles is at 34 degree North. Though to be fair I should add that Alpine is at 1,364m elevation (4,475ft) so quite high.
What makes it weird for me is that the weather oscillate between low 20s C (high 70s F) and just above the minus teens C (high 10s F). It makes it a bit harder to deal with the cold I find.

On the plus side today we have freezing fog (a plus side only if you are not driving) and the all the trees and plants, including the cacti, are getting nice ice on them.

Three Thousand Kilometers Later

I've driven just over 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) since I left.

I started in the cold with loads of snow in the fields but dry roads which was great. Well, dry roads on the main highways!
I spent my last night in Canada in Val Marie and had a chance to go and have a look at the buffaloes in the snow.

From there I managed to cross one state per day. All this because I was keeping track of the weather forecast and I wanted to be way south before the next wave of arctic air with its accompanying set of snow storms was due to hit.

First Montana (see: loads of snow but dry roads):

Wyoming

Colorado, where I managed to pass through Denver just before afternoon rush hour.

And then I hit New Mexico and I slowed down drastically. In fact to keep up with my one-state-a day rate I would have had to drive at least to Albuquerque the day I entered New Mexico but I stopped at the first little town south of the Colorado/New Mexico border, Raton, and stayed there for the day.
Raton is really a cute little town. There is nothing special really but people are friendly. There is everything you need, and some very nice buildings.

I stayed in an old and very cheap little motel.

And from there I went back to my regular way of driving, meaning very little driving, lots of stopping and looking around.

I stayed in Las Vegas New Mexico (not Nevada) where there are hot springs.

And then Santa Fe.

Santa Fe is really a nice town with great museums, hundreds of art galleries, etc etc, but it is VERY touristy. And it is really mostly designed for extremely rich tourists.
At the back of my mind I had thought that I might spend Christmas in Santa Fe but my obsession with running away from snow forced me out this morning since I woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Nicely 20 kilometers south of Santa Fe there was no snow and temperatures were much better.

Right now I am stopped in Sorroco. I am planning to stay here four days. I am basically lying low and letting Christmas go by. Here is the place where I am staying... not very busy.

Sorroco, at first sight, looks a plain little town, but again with everything you need.
It feels great to stop for a few days. I took the electric kettle out of the camper and I am making myself tea. I've already washed the outside of the truck and in the next few days I am planning to do tasks like laundry, but I am looking forward to it.
It really feels good to stop for a bit. Just the same I am sort of thinking of going to Texas (maybe Big Bend National Park) and then maybe on all the way to Florida.
Time will tell.

And for a Change

....It is snowing in Calgary

Wind Chill Warnings

You'll remember the map showing warning issued by environment Canada regarding some weather threat rather. Here is the one for today:

All the areas in red have some heavy snow, blizzard, freezing rain warning apart from the area covering the southern part of both Alberta and Saskatchewan (the inverted U-shaped area in the western part of the map) where wind chill warning have been issued.
Temperatures combined with the wind effect will feel like -40C (which is also -40F). I tell you at these temperature when you go out you do not want a lot of skin exposed!

That was 40 centimeters of Snow

The blizzard is over and has dumped just over 40cm (16") of snow. That is quite a bit even in Canadian terms.

Here are some photos from the Calgary Sun (A local trash newspaper):

Because it was a blizzard and not just a snow storm there was a lot of wind creating pretty big snow drifts.

Those are cars abandoned along the highway between Calgary and Strathmore (Strathmore is 51km East of Calgary)

Apparently right now there is a line up over 1.5km (1 mile) long east of Strathmore because the Trans-Canada  Highway (the major East-West road across Canada) is closed due to snow.

When I hit the road I was planning to drive east..... Well, I'll have to decide the day I leave. The highway is not going to be closed for days and days.

And here are some of my pictures from my daily walk to the library.

It was a sunny day today. Here is a house with some Christmas decoration. I wold love to go and take night pictures of the Christmas lights on houses but with a temperature of -26C (-15F) I am going to pass.

Somebody decided that afterall heels are not the way to go in deep snow and abandoned these shoes on the sidewalk. Smart girl!

COP (Canadian Olympic Park - from the 1988 Winter Olympics) is making snow. They use water guns to spray water which in this weather turns into snow crystals as soon as it touches the air. The clouds are actually made of those snow crystals so light that even though it is not windy to day some are floating away up hill.

Here is from the COP website a closer look at snow making. Unfortuunately there is really no good views of it. Mind you it is sort of white on white