The day after brings a calm and sunny morning. On Friday 27 March 2009 came, perhaps, the best snow storm of the season this year. We received about 5 inches of light and fluffy snow in the still of the night. No wind at that point to move it about, only the downward pull of Earth's gravitational force. The storm parted by mid-afternoon and opened the skies for a brief, but warming hour by the Sun. It was in late afternoon that mis perros and I walked the trail up to about 8,500' MSL where the snow was still deep and plentiful.
Winter made yet another surprise visit to the Sandia Mountains on Friday (ooh yes) the 13th of March dropping 3-4 inches of light snow. These are the storms that I enjoy - no wind. Only the sweet sight of large fluffy snowflakes dancing downward in a spiral produced by their not-so-aerodynamic shapes. Now the temperature is nearly 40°F and clumps of snow from the boughs of trees are crashing to the ground. A steady stream of snow melt from the roof is trickling through the gutter system making small puddles below each down spout.
The dry and warm winter had been interrupted by a brief, but welcome, winter storm today. Waking to the continuous drip of water from the gutters and into rain barrels confirmed the suspicion that my nose first alerted me to before rising out of bed. A light rain turned to light snow and then to heavy snow by mid-morning. Exhausted by the afternoon, the storm broke into partly cloudy skies with a partial full moon rising in the evening.
A brisk morning (29° F), but virtually no air movement. Not even the blades of the anemometer rotate. Many birds flitter about, including a pair of Nothern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) that dart between the crowns of Juniper and Piñon. As beautiful as this morning appears, I wonder if winter will return for another show of magical snow.
The wind dropped from an average of 45 MPH to less than 5 MPH at nearly the stroke of midnight. A change in direction from Northwest to South. The temperature of the previous day never rose above 26°F, and now it was creeping into the low teens.
