Well, many of you Interior Alaskans were probably raging this morning. Like, full on shaking your fists at the sky and mumbling something about moving to Central Africa later this week. So, let’s put all this new white stuff in perspective!
It’s not all that uncommon for us to see snow fall in April, even late April. We are still well within frost dates, our last frost isn’t for another six whole weeks! We recall several major two foot+ snow storms hitting in April. Technically, snow is just extra heavy frost, falling through the atmosphere.
What is unusual, though, is the deep and extended cold we’ve seen throughout the entire winter up until now. While we’ve had a few days here and there “barely” above freezing, we just haven’t seen any substantial melt yet.
Typically, these April snows are largely met by a significant prior melting. We’ve been assured that summer is right around the corner. Instead, this one thrust itself on our all ready overburdened and overtaxed minds. We just haven’t had much relief, at all.
This is probably one of the most difficult things about being a far northerner. It demands a sound mind, calm demeanor and a willingness to just keep taking punches. Because, sometimes, it just doesn’t let up.
So, it looks like our predictions will hold true, a late and torrential melt! Some of you may not be on board yet, but remember, we’ve got the gardener’s clock! It might not seem like it has the correct time, but oh, it certainly does.
The next three weeks are going to suck. All this white stuff is gonna be gone, briefly replaced by mud. But soon after, blissful snow-free mornings, afternoons and evenings will follow! It’s coming!
