A Winter's Tale

Another strange winter so far, to be sure, but today it definitely is feeling like a true winter's day. After having a big thaw last week and losing virtually all the snow, we are definitely back in the correct season. It has been snowing for quite a few days in a row, making the trees look sooooooo beautiful. And the forecast has snow every day - except this Thursday - for the foreseeable future.

Today is a very chilly -18, so the driving is a bit treacherous. The ice doesn't seem to be able to melt, but true to form, the municipal trucks were out sanding before I had to venture to town this morning.
No matter how many winters we spend here, we are astounded by the incredible snow removal.

We were in the city on the weekend and here is what our drive back looked like yesterday.  That was mostly blowing snow, thanks to the high winds. Visibility kept going from bad to worse. So scary that I was a white-knuckle passenger!

On the bright side, all these temps may mean that the lake is solidly frozen, fit for walking, skiing and snowmobiling. A neighbour did email to ask, and to be honest, we haven't even ventured down to check how much ice there is. I think a few more minus gazillion days should make things pretty safe out there.

And as the fellow at the gas station said this morning, when I commented on it being quite frosty:
"Yes, but we need it." Let's face it, it's not everywhere - or every day - you hear that.

Happy 2013

A bright shiny new year at Salmon Lake. Not too many folks here to ring in the new year - a few lights on, which was nice to see.

The weather has been up and down, like just about everywhere else in the province. This morning it was a chilly -13 (now it's -4), but yesterday it was a balmy +1. And the weather app on my phone says +6 by Saturday.

Not as much snow as some other years. On our walk today, we noticed that the banks are not even level with the tops of the guard rail posts yet. The snow removal here is unbelievable - the plow is out for the smallest amounts. We are never worried about being stuck, unless it is by ice.

The Salmon Lake side of the portage is still very open - just a little ice at the sides. In fact, we wrote on the calendar that the channel of the lake only froze on December 30th. Up to the day before, there was open water.

 

We thought we saw a snowmobile track on the bay this morning, but can't tell if it is that or just an odd formation in the snow/ice. Hopefully, nobody is on there when the ice is so new.

Not much snow in the forecast, but hopefully the crazy temperatures won't mean no season for the sledders and cross-country folk this year. I checked back on the posts for the new year last year and it was about the same. Looks like the first snow machines were on the lake about the third week of January.

 Regardless of what people would like winter to be - or any other season for that matter - Mother Nature will do what she wants.