Sitka

Just got back from a four day trip to Sitka. I went down to help the folks at Sector Juneau with their "Operation Herring Thunder," an effort to get on as many of the commercial fishing vessels participating in the Sitka Sound herring sac-roe fishery as we could. Seems that every year in late March, several hundred thousand tons of the oily little guys show up to do their reproductive thing. About 130 vessels also show up, with the goal of sending as much of the fish eggs (in skeins called sac-roe) to the Japanese, to satisfy their appetite for this raw delicacy. I'm not impressed with the taste, but then, I'm not the target consumer...

We were checking the boats for liferaft installations, EPIRBs, their survival suits, and asking a few questions aimed at gathering info about the fishery. It snowed, it rained, it blew sideways, it was cold. As a result, I took mostly boring photos of screwed up liferafts (for training at work). However, I did take a couple that turned out pretty well...

The view is from New Thompson Harbor, Japonica Island to the left, and volcanic Mount Edgecumbe in the background.

This bald eagle perched atop a cargo boom on a tender that we examined. For the second shot, I was able to climb atop the pilothouse without disturbing him, getting about 40 feet away but still wishing the camera had more zoom...

Sitka is a wonderful community; another island with about 8000 (?) people, and surrounded by breath-taking mountains. Sitka was a longstanding Tlingit and Haida native center of commerce, and became the Russian capital of Alaska before the United States purchased the Great Land. The Russians were drawn by the fur seals, and never really learned to play well with the Natives. After they killed nearly all the seals and quite a few Natives in the process, they were happy to be bought out by the Americans. They did leave a rich, lasting Orthodox heritage in all of coastal Alaska, as still evidenced by the churches and architecture. I will get back to Sitka this summer and take some more pictures...

KML

Snow

All these were shot on the 3rd of March, a cold but clear day, as we were digging out...

Clear days in the winter are rare but beautiful. Here's looking down the driveway...

The snow is not quite halfway up the windows in front...

A frozen Auke Lake, looking toward Mount McGinnis (top in the clouds)...

Ice chokes the Gastineau Channel, with the hills of Douglas Island rising above the passage...

Mike (our landlord and snowplow-guy) working on our parking spot. Shot this thru the front window, so not the best photo ever taken, but note the top of the 5-ft tall rose bush in the yard...

The parking berm from the other side...

Mike and I thought, what the heck, let's dig out the fire hydrant in the front, 'cause ya never know...

As Julie my darling would say, it was a ton of flippin' snow...

By the way, it is now official: as the second day of "Spring" dawned, the winter of 2006-07 has had the most snow since records were kept in Juneau. Juneau's ski area at EagleCrest also has the deepest snowpack of any ski resort on the planet... what an honor. This after the rainiest summer on record.

KML

Winter Roars into Juneau Like a Lion

We have come to rely upon the National Weather Service website for a pretty good indicator of what's coming. Usually once or twice a day, from right there on the "Favorites" bar, open it up and take a quick read.

Yesterday morning, I checked it after getting out of the shower, and saw something that caught my eye... the entire SE panhandle was red, meaning an urgent weather warning. When I clicked the mouse over the CBJ (City & Borough of Juneau), the text was much like this:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
JUNEAU AK
1200 PM AST THU MAR 1 2007

...MAJOR WINTER STORM TO AFFECT ALL OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA....

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE TOWARD THE PANHANDLE TODAY. THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY AN EVEN STRONGER LOW ON FRIDAY. ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE YUKON WILL CAUSE COLD AIR TO PERSIST OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA. HEAVY SNOW AND HIGH WINDS WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER OVER THE ENTIRE PANHANDLE THROUGH FRIDAY.

AKZ025-020530-
JUNEAU BOROUGH AND NORTHERN ADMIRALTY ISLAND-
INCLUDING THE CITY OF...JUNEAU
1200 PM AST THU MAR 1 2007...

BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AST FRIDAY...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JUNEAU HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING...WHICH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM AST FRIDAY.

A COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW AND HIGH WINDS CREATING NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY AT TIMES. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 8 TO 14 INCHES OVERNIGHT IS LIKELY. WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE ALSO LIKELY ESPECIALLY NEAR LYNN CANAL AND DOWNTOWN JUNEAU.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS A SERIOUS THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY ISALREADY OCCURRING OR IMMINENT.

TRAVEL IS DISCOURAGED UNLESS IT IS AN ABSOLUTE EMERGENCY.

So looking out the window at 0630, there was no precipitation or wind. It looked pretty calm.

By the afternoon, we were in the midst of an honest-to-God, Great Plainsesque blizzard. "True" blizzards have to have snow, 35 knots wind, and visibility less than a quarter-mile. We had all three. What a mess...

This is the aftermath:

Yeah, I know it took me three weeks to get this done and published... so very sorry.

KML