I suspected that low snow years may correlate with persistent southerly steering flow. After talking with Richard James he suggested I look at 700 mb level wind direction. I reviewed wind data from 2000-2016 during the winter period of each year (Oct 1st-April 1st). I found that when winds are coming from almost due south (180 degrees) Fairbanks had low snow years.
No surprise the Alaska Range is real good at blocking out moisture from the Pacific. So for you snow lovers out there; southerly winds are bad. I should note that there is a small correlation to snowy years when winds are more from the south west and off the Bering sea. I'll expand on this more later. Thanks for reading my first post. -Mike
Hi Mike good post. Yea pretty dry inland so far but there 's always the chance for a December snow event...Santa needs the snow runways for big loads or his sled runners stick. At least the dog mushers have ATV's today for them to run their teams.
ReplyDeleteI better cover my septic lines as the frost will be penetrating damp soils from this summer's rains.
Gary
Hey Gary. Yeah I've been wondering about the same thing. Frost depth is going to be deep this year. Might have problems come spring. Hopefully we will get some snow for Santa too.
DeleteI wonder if there's a frost depth gauge for Fairbanks? I think I've seen something from the UAF or Tanana Valley Experimental Forest doings...maybe a topic for another thread if available as winter progresses?
DeleteGary
There's a wealth of data here:
Deletehttp://bnznet.iab.uaf.edu/vdv/vdv_historical.php
SW flow so a little snow today Black Friday. Makes for slippery streets in Fairbanks.
ReplyDeleteGary