Breakup

Springtime in Alaska is referred to by locals as "Breakup," to describe the ice and snow melting. Sunshine and warm weather during the day, combined with below-freezing temperatures at night, have contributed to a milder breakup than anticipated. Despite that, there's still a helluva lot of snow all over town. As of April 9th, the snow was 23 inches deep at the weather service's office by the airport (I live 5 minutes from there). That compares to just 6 inches on the same date last year.

This week it snowed another 4 inches which officially broke the record for most snowfall in a season this year. I sure hope that is the last of it. I've had enough. It’s April, and I’m ready for spring. Or more importantly I’m ready for summer. Experts predict the snow will be gone by the last few days of April or first few days of May. I sure hope they're right. I'm visiting chicago right now and spring is definitely in full force here -- the grass is green, the trees have bloomed, and the birds are chirping. It's going to be hard to go back to Anchorage next week!