January Thaw

 

It's been pretty warm lately and I've even heard talk that it is almost spring or that 'it's too bad' we're not going to get more ice and snow in town.  What people do not seem to realize is that this is absolutely normal January weather.  There is typically a thaw in late January.  In fact it happens so regularly that there is even a slight bump in the long term temperature records for late January.  It even has a name - the 'January Thaw'.  Here is a link to a good article about it in the Farmers Almanac (click here).

So this is normal weather for late January.  It does not mean that the rest of the winter will be mild.  Nor does it portend that the rest of the winter will be harsh.  It's just normal.  Meanwhile the east coast and Lower 48 are getting severe winter cold.  I hope they appreciate it!  And I can't wait for winter to return here - fingers crossed.

These pictures are all from Wednesday.  The sun warmed the snow in the South Bowl and it was spring skiing conditions with corn snow.  But only where the slope was steep and facing south - everywhere else it was still frozen.  I was the first one to ski down into the south bowl and it was perfect.  I love it when I can look back and see only my tracks - a great big 'Patrick Squiggle'.

Patrick

If you look closely you can see my ski tracks on high

I could not stop looking at my tracks on the mountain as I drove home