Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship Study, Number 5: Bacardi in Ice, Day 5: Pelted by rain

Yes, that's right, rain. The weather has gone nuts.

This morning on Facebook, a friend posted that the temperature in Nuiqsut had risen to 32, with heavy rain and winds of 55 mph. Nuiqsut! Many of you were with me on September 15 when I boated into Nuiqsut from Cross Island with the EMN Crew in a light snow storm. The snow stuck. The temperature dropped into the 20s, then teens.

Mid-September.

Historically, one would have expected the temperature in Nuiqsur to then basically stay below freezing until mid-May, with a warm day this time of year being about -5 F and a cold day -40 or so.

I took this picture at about 4 PM. It was hard to do because the rain was splashing all over my iPhone and it was pretty dark. Now, the rain is turning to snow again. According to the forecast, Wasilla could be flirting with the zero Fahrenheit Mark in a day or two. By then, I should be in Barrow – weather permitting. 

Text added at 5:08 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 50 and counting.

Finally, Little Lake is frozen over

Note: I shot this earlier this afternoon, shortly before the Bacardi study and immediately emailed it to this blog. I just now realized it never showed up. Oh, these nightmares! Anyway, here it is, throwing my order off, and here is what I wrote at the time I made the Instagram:

Finally, Little Lake is frozen over. As I have noted before, this used to pretty much always happen at least by the third week of October and quite often the second and sometimes even the first. But at least it has happened now. We just need a little snow, That's all.

Text added at 5:36 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 47 and counting.

Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship Study, Number 2: Bacardi in Ice, Day 2: The ice grows thicker

As anyone can see, the ice is a little thicker today. I had hoped it might be thick enough and strong enough that I could step out on it and bring the camera down directly over the Bacardi bottle, but when I tested it, I heard a cracking sound. Maybe tomorrow.

Text added at 5:22 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 47 and counting.

Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship Study, Number 1: Bacardi in Ice, Day 1:

I took this snap earlier today on my walk. It felt to me like I had posted enough pictures so I thought I would just let it join the multitude of my images that slip unseen into the archives. But then I got to thinking about the combined issues of climate change and environmental stewardship. I decided I should conduct a multi–part study to help us all better understand what is going on. I leave for Barrow in 4 1/2 days, so I will conduct the study within that time. Each study will depict the same object in the same spot, unless a moose or something comes along and kicks it through the ice. I will show its state as the weather changes day by day.

I can't say I will make a study every single day, we'll see.

Anyway, to be redundant, here is Climate Change Study 1: Bacardi in Ice, original fieldwork done by litterbug, likely drunk.

Text added at 9:38 PM. The Squarespace night continues - day 46 and counting.