After 2-3 weeks of very cold weather, our temperatures again turned unseasonably warm during much of February. And then, a little over a week ago, we had rain! It seems that this has become more and more common during our last few winters. Unfortunately, although the warmer temperatures are a nice relief from the extreme cold, the rain always freezes immediately to the ground (which of course does not warm up as quickly as the air) and creates quite hazardous conditions. Luckily, the rain was followed within about a day with cooling temperatures and about 90 mm of snow. This froze to the ice beneath it and helped lessen the slippery conditions. The snow also improved the ski trails. It was lovely to ski on fresh snow in -5°C weather and in the sunshine!
When I took the photos today, at 11:00 am, the temperature was -2°C and it was overcast. I measured the snow depth, which was a total of 355 mm, and there was a thick ice layer 210 mm down from the surface.
As we approach Spring Equinox, the days are longer and brighter and we are gaining about 7 minutes of daylight each day. Today, the sun rose at 7:57 am and will set at 6:11 pm, for a total day length of 10 hours and 14 minutes. That is a lovely 3 hours and 10 minutes more than last month at this time.
