Snow Line

Day 85: As someone I knew used to say, "'Almost' don't count, 'cept in horseshoes and hand grenades." Maybe a flake or two fell here in the night, mixed with rain, but the snow line cuts off roughly 500' above me, and that's as close as I've been to snow so far this winter. Now you might be expecting a rant on climate change to follow those words, but in fact, this is more like a normal winter than we've seen in years. By "normal," I refer to my personal recollections and more importantly, to my meticulously kept weather records. 2023 was a bit drier than usual, coming in on the low end of our customary precipitation total, but still within range. There have been many years we've gone without any snow at all at my current location, although that's been somewhat balanced out by the years we've received two or three feet in one weather event. The Pacific Northwe't may be rather on the damp side of the equation overall, but as a general rule, our climate is mild year-'round, grey though it may be. And of course if I want to see snow, it's only a short drive to the Park and a 14,410' Mountain with all the snow you could ever want.