Posted on 12/18/2009 12:19:08 PM PST by thackney
Go ahead, grumble about the snowstorm that socked the Anchorage area this week. Depending on your side of town, and not counting the Hillside, the official tally is between 5.5 and 20 inches.
Now, put your ear to your freshly shoveled driveway, and you'll hear Valdez residents laughing.
"My God, our people don't even get out of bed for that, and I'm not kiddin' ya," said longtime resident Tom McAlister.
Snow started falling in Valdez early Monday morning and continued to fall like crazy. At one point on Tuesday, 4.8 inches fell in an hour. By Wednesday, 68.2 inches had piled up.
"On my tippy toes I could look over the top of it," said McAlister, who is 5-foot-8.
That makes it the second highest three-day snowfall on record for the town of 4,020, with top honors going to Feb. 4, 1996, when 74.6 inches fell over three days.
But snow deep enough to swallow McAlister wasn't the end of it. As of Thursday afternoon, the inch count was up to 76.5 -- 6 feet, 4.5 inches -- and, though slowing down, snow continued to fall.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Where is globull warming when you need it?
Of course 5-20” wouldn’t get them out of bed. Where would they go anyway? Ba dum!
In the meantime, 350 miles to the north, we could use a foot or three of snow. It’s grim snowmachining on a thin frosting of ice and snow while hitting stumps, logs, and tussocks that are still exposed.
Not so grim that I’d live anywhere else, though.
Lived in Fairbanks, (real Alaska) for five years in the 70’s. The biggest snow in five years was 11 inches. There were a couple of sparse years as well where even the ski slopes had trouble staying open.
218 inches here in Girdwood so far this year.
Wow!
I’m in Wasilla, snow here was a somewhat lite snow (sno-lite?)and wasn’t hard at all to move or to drive through.
I hate having to run my snoblower over first snow, it tends to be a giant rock thrower or anything else the kids have left lying around the yard. The Mr.Plow guys are having a booming business right now and it looks like a happy Christmas for many as we all know Alaska has had somewhat less snow than normal the last few years, who knows maybe the Iditarod will actually re-start here instead of Willow.
It figures, now that we moved from Eagle River. We were walking distance from the VFW. We kept hoping we would get to have an Iditarod party around the end of the ceremonial run from Anchorage. Never went that far while we were there.
Still I don’t think even with all the snow if its still around later that they will have it anymore here in Wasilla, too many new homes down KGB had the committee worried about vehicles interfering with the teams.
Myself I think they should move it to Big Lake, a fairly decent road and plenty of room there for any amount of spectators. The only real advantage to having it in Willow is the train there.But thats only good for the people from Anchorage and they get their show already, the restart is the REAL Start of the Iditarod.
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