Weird Weather the New Norm

It has been four years of above-average winter temperatures in Homer, with winters feeling like spring or fall, with the grays of those seasons more common than the white of winter. This year is the all-time record high temperatures since recording began in the early 1900's. We now know that the poles are warming faster than the equator, and the uncertainty around skiing has become the new norm:  the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club now puts TBA for many events--date and place dependent on snow, and rather than committing themselves to saying when and where it is going to happen, saying it will happen, snow dependent.

I've seen ice flows before--just random places where water seeps out of the ground and creates an icy patch on the trail, but this year, it seems like at the McNeil trails, which are dominated by boggy areas, there were many more ice flows than usual.  The groomers adjusted by just going way out of their way around it, where they could, creating a new groomed trail.

Water flows on the ski trails

More flows

Luckily it is not all like that!

Warming and thawing, which is the new norm in Homer it appears, is wreaking havoc on roads, which are just breaking apart, with giant potholes appearing seemingly overnight. On our road, the ditch has overflowed because of frozen culverts so instead of running under the road the flow is now all over the road, an icy, slushy mess that will continue to get worse till the borough gets out and thaws the culvert.

Temperatures in the 40's is now common, and while some folks like it, it also means that many times the precipitation is coming down when the temperatures are at freezing, creating insanely icy conditions. A few nights ago it was 24 degrees, but drizzling, turning the roads into random slick spots. Oh what fun!