Thaw Continues

If you didn't know it was January 30th in the Bella Coola Valley you could be fooled into thinking it was mid March.  The thaw that started 10 days ago has continued and the temperatures staying in the +3 and 4 C range in the day.  In areas where the snow has mostly gone, the frost has gone out of the ground.

In spite of quite a bit of rain yesterday it hasn't affect low river levels, because the snow line is just above the valley floor so the mountains have been getting the precipitation as snow.  Grizzly

The Week

It hasn't been a very dramatic week in the Bella Coola Valley this past week,  just more of the same pattern of plus and minus zero and a small bit of precipitation which has been rain in most of the lower valley, but as you can see in the collection of photos for the week, the one with snow the 5-10 cm of snow was only 2 km east of my house where we had sleet and slush instead of snow today.  I've mentioned it in the past, but weather varies a lot as you progress east or west in the Bella Coola Valley. Grizzly

Trees

I like trees, but right now they are a big inconvenience for our small little Sundays only ski hill for the kids and families in Bella Coola.  The ski hill  is about 4 km off Highway 20  near the East Branch parking lot in Tweedsmuir Park at the top of the hill (you have to snowmobile or ski into the hill) and so far this year for the first time in 8-10 years we have not been able to open.  We have about 30" of snow, but it's very dry and has no base.  We need to cut the trees so we can ski in low snow winters, because we've been spoiled by good snow packs the last few years that have meant we can ignore the trees.  More work required this summer.  Grizzly

Thaw

 It's been a remarkably calm and stable stretch of weather in the Bella Coola Valley since early December.  We've had a few ups and downs,  a little bit of snow, a bit of east wind, and a warmer day or two.  This week seems to have finally broken the steady stable freezing spell we have had.  We are a couple of days into above 0C temperatures and a little bit of rain on top of it.  Last night there was lots of wind which really knocks down the snow quick.  It's good for the wood pile when it's stable and no east wind blowing, but we've got six more weeks until March weather arrives and winter can no longer win.   Grizzly

Clearing Out

Last evening right at dusk a little snow storm started and continued on and off till this morning.  It brought 5-10cm depending as usual where you are situated in the Bella Coola Valley.  At noon things were starting to improve and by the end of the day it was a beautiful clear day with dropping temperatures down to -3C tonight.  Grizzly

Steady Weather and Cougars

It's hard to write about the weather in the Bella Coola Valley when nothing dramatic is happening.  The most interesting we have had is a few cm of snow, followed by a bit of thaw and then a bit more snow.  It's been a good winter, not much driveway plowing and shoveling.

The neighborhood has 5 deer hanging around, but the neighbor saw a cougar and a wolf in the yard this weekend so the deer will be feeling the pressure but with less than 10 cm of snow to worry about they have pretty good mobility.  I have also been hearing reports of other cougar sightings.  The coming month of February always seems to be when the young cats who are having trouble hunting wild game start picking off domestic cats and dogs...our aging Lab needs to keep her ears open!  Grizzly

A Good Start to January

If the first few days of January this year are an indication for the rest of the winter then I think we'll take it!  It's just a continuation of the nice November and December of this winter.  I'm not sure what to make of the rest of the winter, but a look at past winters suggests that January is often clear and cold, with more snow in February, but this hasn't been a typical winter either.  Grizzly

 

New Years Day 2013

Happy New Year from the Bella Coola Valley.  Another pleasant day of -2 or 3 C and a few sunny periods with no wind.  We poked around in the Atnarko Valley today and the upper Bella Coola Valley (today's photo is near the old settlement of Belarko BC), where the snow levels are the same as further down valley - only a few inches but dry and sugary.  The rivers are all gin clear and a few people were out and about fishing or sight seeing.  Grizzly