Inversion

 

The last few days have been pretty foggy down in town.  Planes to and from Kodiak have been cancelled and it's been pretty dreary - driving along with the headlights and using the wipers every once in a while to clear the mist off the windshield.  But above the fog it has mostly been sunny or not foggy anyway.

On Saturday when I went skiing it was just above freezing at my house and you could not see 100 yards.  Even the Pyramid parking lot was socked in. But when I climbed up the mountain at just about 1200 feet it cleared off and got warm.  The higher I went the warmer it got, and the softer the snow.  

Since it had been freezing overnight at my house I expected ice on high.  I was shocked to find spring skiing conditions and tee shirt weather.  This is a classic example of a temperature inversion.  Cold and foggy in the valley and warm and sunny on high.  Overnight it was warmer on Pyramid than it was at my house by the sea.  

When I skied down I went into the fog and it was like skiing into a wall of cold air.  And the snow got icy!

 

Patrick