Rotten Ice

underneath the Wendel street bridge we have lots of old ice again, its been warm lately and the river is starting to melt. this is what rotten ice looks like, don't walk on it. Warm for us is 45 degrees for the last 10 days strait. its back down to 20 overnight.

there is open water here , just a little bit. its moving. All these were taken on , Sunday about 8 pm april 4

Down by the first Ave bridge there are a few poles from the start of the Yukon quest back in February. I saw someone go skiing on the river 2 days ago, but not something that i would do , even if i could ski.

We didn't get much snow this winter , so it has nearly all gone from my front south facing yard.

Walking along the river on 1st ave is interesting, the city has put up some signs about some of the Fairbanks history. I think this is readable. and I think quite interesting. Strait across the street from the Key bank building.

there will be more coming as the river changes over the next couple of weeks.

Crashing Ice

 the ice was thundering past today
 Looking at it too much was enough to make to dizzy.

River ice,

 I drove home from work today and as i crossed the bridge i saw lots of ice floating down the river. Not that I had my camera on me, so when i got home crabbed my camera and came back.

its 75 degrees today. it was nice and cool inside my house.
 I did take a video but i still lack some technical skills in posting video.  ( might have to look at u tube0
 It was hot today, horribly hot.( No laughing) the snow is all gone form my yard, so went out the back and played  at trimming all the branches from trees that will just grow again.

 Over the weekend I had conversation with people about my garden and some one suggested I get a soil analysis.  so got that lined up for Friday.   The local soil and water people will do it for $25.00 per sample. I am thinking of getting 2 . one for the greenhouse and one the the garden, see if I can get some better sized tomatoes that last year.

 my cucumber are 2 inches tall I have tomatoes germinated, beets and arctic chard I may have planted too early for  the beets. time will tell.

Cracks in the river

Friday 10th I went for a errand at work and took my camera,  blocked drains in spring fun, fun,  i needed a car wash anyway. notice the pikes of dirty snow.
  and the car park at work is going to get worse before it gets better.  but i wore my sandals to work  Friday.
 now the river  is starting to crack, there is  a thin sheen of  ice over the top of this hole.

 and the back side of the building where I work , showing the cracks  and all then old snow machine trails. further down the river past the power plant the river is open
 you can see the rotten snow if you look closely. (No this was taken from the bridge)
 and my street , we can nearly drive on the pavement again, taken this  morning Saturday  April 11.

Runing Water

Well there is still a small area of open water on the river, but what your definition of open water. there was a couple of tracks where someone has been on the river skiing and even a snow machine but fairly close to the edge , not out in the middle.
It's snowing again today, just lightly, and these days it is just no light after i am done work to even think about taking photos. We are 6 weeks form the shortest day.
and 8 weeks from my vacation!

More freezing in Fairbanks

Saturday , another nice fine day, and cold, but armed with camera I went down the river again.
Rumor has it we are due to break the records for the coldest October on record. Not sure how long the records have been around. they say it is 20% colder than usual.. so considering my oil company filled my oil tank in July at $4.54 a gallon. i am not a very happy camper. but i don't control the weather.

Its kinda funny the way the ice freezes , and cracks. I wouldn't have thought that it would crack this time of year , i think the water currents may have something to do with all this

the river has frozen all the way over in some spots , but i don't see anybody walking on it yet. not even dogs.

Ice and Water.

Today was the first clear day in a while , so I got to take the camera down the river to catch some more freeze up. It amazing how fast the river is freezing, but i must admit that this is the first year i have tried to watch it in detail. let alone catch it on camera.
The water looks like it is warmer than the air. The gentle fog rising.

There are lots of bits of ice drifting down , at quite a good speed. I was also surprised to see the interesting pattern in the ice along the edges. I am not the person to ask about what causes them, water currents maybe. then it clouded over this afternoon. the thermostat says it was 20 today , but to felt colder.. We haven't had a day above 32 in 10 days at least, so freeze up has occur ed. we are just waiting for the river to freeze. i think i did see a duck today but it didn't want to be in camera range. maybe another day.