A major winter storm, the first of this winter, dropped three feet of heavy snow on Southcentral Alaska Wednesday night through Friday.
I took some cell phone photos Wednesday evening as the snow was building up on the guardrails of my front deck:
The vertical post is 4x6". This snow is over a foot.
Above, the snow measure sa little more than a foot. Before I went to bed, it was over two feet and coming down hard. Here's a video:
The power went out after midnight. I figured it would due to all the trees killed by spruce bark beetles. I thought some would fall on the electric lines and knock out the power. I got smart and filled the back of the pickup with firewood Wednesday afternoon, and parked the truck in the garage. That gave me easy access to keep the wood stove burning in the living room.
I set out battery-operated lanterns and located flashlights. I drew some water.
That's exactly what happened. All over the place. Here, between here and Seward, in Cooper Landing, and in between here and Anchorage. That included Hope, Portage and Girdwood.
The main transmission line to Anchorage was knocked down!! That was Chugach Electric's priority repair. The Seward highway was closed overnight as DOT struggled to keep up with the snowfall. I haven't heard how much snow fell in Turnagain Pass, but I'll bet it's more than the three feet that dumped on my place.
This is what I saw Thursday morning. The piles on the deck rails had collapsed inward, unfortunately.
On the back deck, the rail snow collapsed outward.
We were completely snowed in. Couldn't get out of the driveway, couldn't even get the truck out of the garage. And still no power.
Friday, still no power. Reports said poles, lines down all over, and crosserarms broken. The crossarms are what carries the lines.
Friday, a front-end loaded cleared the driveway and now there are huge stacks of snow in my yard. There was some shoveling to do afterward because the loader was so big it couldn't back-drag snow away from buildings.
Shoveled an opening to the carport where this winter's firewood is stored.
The loader, too big to get closed to the garage, left a berm 24-30 inches high.
The snow slid off the carport where my firewood is stacked, leaving only a pile at the very top.
Saturday noonish the electricity was restored here, but there are many, many customers still without all over Southcentral.
The village of Hope, 20 miles off the Seward Highway, is snowed in and without power. DOT had a hard time clearing the small road due to trees and other debris. Electric company crews tired to get there but couldn't until the road was cleared.
Lots of hungry birds. This Steller's Jay sits just outside my window, hoping I'll bering out more peanuts. I've been seeing birds here that I've never seen before--crossbills and a Hairy Woodpecker. The woodpecker started pounding on my house trim. I told it "NO" and it flew off.
I see Downy Woodpeckers occasionally, and recently an American Three-Toed Woodpecker, but the Downys have better manners and don't bang on the house.
This Steller's Jay is sitting right outside my window, waiting for me to take more peanuts outside.
For now, all is well. Power's on and I can get out of my driveway if I want. I don't want, and will stay home and off the highway so DOT can finish clean-up. No sense getting in their way.
We will be back to our regularly-scheduled programming tomorrow: The Giant Anteaters of Brazil.
