This was a rather boring week. The one activity that was scheduled for Friday Noon got canceled – – moved to next Friday.
The weather has been the same every day – lows in the small double digits and highs in the mid-30s. By mid-afternoon the snow – since early December – gets soft and a tiny bit of melting happens. Each day is a repeat. The mountains remain snow covered even though not much new has fallen. This isn’t expected to change for the next week. It is supposed to get wet in the California region where the fires have been. Look for news of mud.
A nephew and family lives in the Lake Erie snow belt. They have had about 5 feet of snow this season. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and the first to freeze. After a slow start, the surface is now a little over 80% iced over. This decreases the water supply to the air moving over the lake and thus the snow. Another few days and the 2024/2025 Lake Erie snow belt will be history. Lake Ontario has a deep spot in the eastern section and rarely gets completely frozen on the surface. Ontario is only 12% ice covered. The area south of Watertown, called the Tug Hill Plateau, is notable for its heavy winter snowfall, with more expected Sunday.
Use “Tug Hill Plateau” in a Google Earth search to view the area. An images search will bring up many interesting photos.
My night sky: Several planets are visible, but without going outside I see only one. It is in the southwest sky, about to disappear behind trees and the Cascade Mountains in the direction of Mt. Rainier.
The news is full of the things the Trump administration is doing. There are no immediate effects here in rural central Washington. The stock market has been generally up for the beginning of January. Better than the weather.
I found one image on the internet that was amusing:
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John