Friday, April 30th

Good morning! Wow! I cannot believe that it's been since Tuesday that I made a post. The week has flown by! Our weather has turned out to be a rather damp week. We have had on and off rain showers. The temperatures have been in the upper 50's to low 60's. Occassionally, the sun will peek out and warm things up for a moment.

The weekend does appear that it will be rather wet. With highs in the low 50's, we are expecting more rain. It doesnot look as if we will see the sun again until next Wednesday.

Current Conditions at 6:30 a.m.:

Skies: Cloudy with Scattered Showers
Temperature: 37
BP: 29.72 and steady
Sunrise: 5:21 a.m.
Sunset: 10:18 p.m.

Tuesday, April 27th

Good morning! It's another wonderful spring morning here in North Pole! Temperatures are in the upper 30's and the NWS promises that highs will be in the 60's today. While skies are cloudy, there is no mention of rain.

Rain is something we literally pray for here in Alaska. Many may not know this, but the Interior of Alaska has a desert climate. It is EXTREMELY dry. Because of the lack of rain last summer, wild fires were a massive problem. Most of June and July, we were battling heavy amounts of smoke. Many days, the smoke was so dense you could not see across the street. This limited outdoor activities and caused many people with respiratory diseases to become very ill.

Rain would be very welcomed this year. The NWS does mention a chance of rain over the weekend. I hope they are correct in their forecast. It would be nice to have rain every few days to keep the threat of fires out of our forecast!

Current conditions at 7:00 a.m.:

Skies: Cloudy
Temperature: 39
BP: 29.38 and steady
Sunrise: 5:32 a.m.
Sunset: 10:08 p.m.

Spring is here!

Good Morning! While Spring officially started in March, we are definitely starting to see signs of the spring season here in the Interior. On Sunday afternoon, Mike and I headed out to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.

Each spring and fall, all sorts of migratory birds make a stop at Creamer's Field for a few weeks. The birds we see the most are Canadian Geese and Sandhill Cranes. The geese have been here for a couple of weeks, while the cranes are just starting to appear.

While hiking along the trails around Creamer's Field, we spotted another sign of spring. We found small buds on a few of the trees. This is certainly a welcomed sight! Further up the trail, we came upon, perhaps the most exciting sighting, a small butterfly fluttering through the woods.

At our house, we found a snowshoe hare hanging out in our yard. In the winter, snowshoe hares turn solid white so they can be camouflaged from potential predators. In the spring and summer, they turn brown. The bunny we saw is just starting the transition.

Current Conditions at 6:30 a.m.:

Skies: Partly Cloudy
Temperature: 39
BP: 29.56
Sunrise: 5:35 a.m.
Sunset: 10:04 p.m.

The snowshoe hare changes from white to brown in the summer.

Fireweed from last summer.

Fireweed is a flower that blooms from the bottom up.

In the fall, it drops its petals and forms this white "stuff."

Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge

Canadian Geese

Canadian Goose

The first butterfly of the season!

The first tree buds of the season!

It's all gone!

Good morning! I must say it is a great morning! As of yesterday, April 21st, all of the snow is gone from our yard. Just 12 days ago, we were still having several inches of snow and the snow pack was about 12 inches deep. In that short time with temperatures in the 50's and 60's, the snow has melted and hopefully will not return until next fall!

According to the NWS, this week still trends a little cooler with highs mainly in the low 50's. We have a slight chance of rain showers later in the week. However, today should be sunny and a high between 55 and 60.

Current conditions at 6:30 a.m.:

Skies: Clear
Temperature 21
RH: 80%
BP: 29.68 and rising
Sunrise: 5:50 a.m.
Sunset: 9:51 p.m.

Taken on April 8th, snow was falling and the pack

was at least 12 inches deep.

Taken April 21st, all the snow is gone!

We enjoyed a nice barbeque dinner out on our deck on Tuesday.

Mild Morning

Good morning! Monday was absolutely wonderful. With a high of 65, Mike and I pulled out the outdoor furniture, dusted it off, and had a lovely dinner out on the deck. Since it was so warm, I decided to put on shorts for the first time in almost a year. As I sat there, I began to laugh. It seemed absolutely crazy. Picutre this scene: two people sitting on their deck, wearing shorts, shading themselves from the sun, 62 degrees, and snow still on the ground! I could not believe that we were in summer clothes with snow still hanging on. However, it did make me laugh!

Back to real time. Tuesday is starting out with overcast skies and a temperature in the low 40's. We have a slight chance of rain showers this afternoon. Skies will clear later tonight. Temperatures will cool off later this week. The NWS is calling for highs between 45 and 55 over the next seven days.

Current conditions at 7:00 a.m.:

Skies: Cloudy
Temperature: 43
RH: 52%
BP: 29.58 and steady
Sunrise: 5:57 a.m.
Sunset: 9:45 p.m.

Magnificent Monday

Sunday was an awesome day here in the interior. We had a high of 62 degrees. Since the sun was out in full force, so were many Alaskans. Today will shape up like yesterday. We will have mostly sunny skies this morning with highs in the upper 50's and lower 60's. However, clouds will be on the increase. This will set the trend for the rest of the week. The NWS calls for mostly cloudy skies throughout the rest of the 7 day forecast with a chance of rain during the day and snow at night.

Since the weather was so nice yesterday, Mike and I headed out to Creamer's Field. Creamer's Field is a migratory waterfowl refuge. Each Spring and Fall, thousands of Candian Geese and Sandhill Cranes flood Creamer's Field during their migratory journey. Yesterday seemed to be extra special. While watching the birds, we notice a single bald eagle soaring above the field. Using my binoculars, I was able to watch this incredible bird soar and finally swoop down to catch its prey. What an awesome experience!

Current Conditions at 6:00 a.m.:

Skies: Clear
Temprature: 29
RH: 76%
BP: 29.59 and rising
Sunrise: 6:01 a.m.
Sunset: 9:41 p.m.

60 Degrees!!!!

Good afternoon! What an incredible day here in North Pole. I am wearing short sleeves and no coat today for the first time since last August! Life is good!

We have ample sunshine today with a high in the low 60's. While I still have some snow hanging on in our backyard, it is slowly retreating.

Current Conditions in 5:00 p.m.:

Skies: Partly Cloudy
Temperature: 61
RH: 23%
BP: 29.46 and steady
Sunrise: 6:01 p.m.
Sunset: 9:41 p.m.