29 degrees F Snowing Wind N4mph Sunrise 6:49am CDT Sunset 7:43pm CDT
Once again, the snow is coming down heavily.
Looking out towards the lake, it is just a sheet of white. Nothing can be seen beyond the edge of the shore.
This is a wet heavy spring snow. Perfect for making snowmen.
But the snow is coming down much too heavily for there to be any enjoyment in being out there making snowmen.
It is beautiful to watch it from the warmth inside. A little while ago, I looked out at the beautiful scene of snow accumulating on every branch and needle of the deep green pine trees. And there was the brilliant red of a cardinal against the stark white and the deep green. He was watching to see if it was safe to fly to the feeder filled with plump sunflower seeds.
He quickly made the short flight and is now sitting gorging himself on sunflower seeds as the snow falls on him.
Beautiful!
The forecast has been all over the place the last couple days. The weathermen - and the weather - can't seem to make up their minds.
The forecast was for 8 to 14 inches of snow for here. Then they decreased it to 6 to 9 inches. But today the forecast is back up there. Possibly 6 to 14 inches of snow.
With this kind of storm, so much depends on timing. When does the moisture arrive and when does it turn over to actual snow. Plus a few miles either direction can make a big difference in the total accumulation.
There is nothing right now that is at all inviting to our loons. It will still be sometime before the ice on the lake will be gone and there is any of the open water that they need - other than on some rivers that are starting to open. The ice on the lake is still several feet thick and frozen right up against the shore.
So we can only hope that the loons, in spite of their biological urges to head north, do not try to push their limits. But they seem to be able to sense and cope with those things much better than we humans do.
Snow still lies deep on the ground. There has been some melting the last couple weeks but there is a lot to go. In some ways it has been a perfect, slow melt. This is good news as far as spring flooding is concerned.
What had been piles of snow over 8 feet high on either side of my driveway are now piles that are "only" 4 feet high.
One year ago today, crocuses were almost blooming, rhubarb nubs were poking their plump heads above the ground and green daffodil shoots were a couple inches high.
Not this year.
The ground is still solidly frozen.
So it will still be sometime before we see flowers blooming.
Farmers always used to talk about a spring snow like this being "white fertilizer". Apparently they felt that spring snow carried some of the nitrogen out of the air as it fell and acted like the best fertilizer around.
So this snow holds the promise of even better growth of all plants.
The storm is supposed to be done and out of here by tomorrow afternoon. And this weekend the temperatures are supposed to be in the 60s! Something we have not seen since way back in mid-October.
So much of the snow will melt fast.
Every year about this time of year, I have had it with shoveling snow! I think I am at that point with this storm coming in. I usually say, "OK, God. YOU put it here. You take care of it! I refuse to shovel any more." And I think He will take care of this snowfall in fairly short order.
No doubt many schools will be closed in some parts of the state tomorrow. So the kids are going to enjoy a day off school with fresh white snow and mild temperatures.
The loon nest needs a lot of the usual spring work done on it. But that will also have to wait. It is still buried under a couple feet of snow and ice.
So we wait. While our loons, already back in their beautiful black and white plumage anxiously get ready to come north for another season!
Email and tweet and text and Facebook your friends and tell them to get ready for another season of the LoonCam.
If you give me your email address, I will try to send you and update as we get closer to the camera going live. Just send it to LoonCam@yahoo.com.
Copyright 2014 Larry R. Backlund