No baseball today

While I hear Washington feels a bit like Alaska this week, I think we've gotten a dose of Seattle's typical weather. It's rained on top of our snow for three consecutive days turning our winter wonderland into patches of ice, slush and mud. While school has been called off in Seattle for too much snow, we had the first "snow" days here in my two years here, for a lack thereof. The rain on top of snow made roads so slick that police responded to 89 vehicle incidents on Monday. I got off work a little early at the start of my four-day weekend and decided to walk through the baseball fields across the street to capture a little of the drizzly mess and play with my new camera.

Open eyes

It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget how geographically amazing, beautiful and strange this place I live is. But over the last two weeks, I've had several reminders that I'm in Alaska:

1. EARTHQUAKES: Last week we were rattled with two earthquakes. First was a 4.9 magnitude on Tuesday just 15 miles from Anchorage. Everyone at work jumped as the sound of a semi-truck slammed into the side of our building, but really it was the sound of the earth moving. It shook for several seconds, but no damage was reported anywhere. The second was a 5.4 about a 3-hour-drive north. It woke us up Saturday morning at 4 a.m. I had to get up and to see how fast the local news reported it online.

2. WIND: We had a windstorm Friday with gusts up to 70 mph in places that knocked down trees and knocked out power through much of Southcentral Alaska. Some more remote locations had no power for days after the storm. We actually rarely have much wind at all here, but it contributed to a strange week.

3. SNOW: Termination dust capped the mountains Sunday. The official sign that summer is over. The sight makes skiers cheer and lovers-of-summer like myself pout. We also had flurries in Anchorage Sunday. Nothing stuck, but it reminded us that it will soon. The photo above was taken Sunday traveling south on the Glenn Highway. (Note to my mother: Don't worry, I was in the passenger seat.)

4. FOG: I'm kicking myself for not photographing the eerie for that shrouded the 3 feet over the baseball fields the other day. It looked like the opening scene of a scary movie.

5. DARKNESS: The Fall Equinox passed the other day, and with it, my ability to drive to work without headlights.

Hopefully I won't wait for the next round of earthquakes to open my eyes and remember the beauty and wonder of my surroundings.

Portage Glacier Cruise

Wednesday before the wedding, some of our out-of-town guests joined us for a hour-long Portage Glacier Cruise. It was a beautiful, warm day. Plus, we met a very special tour guide we lovingly nicknamed Beardsley McGlacier face.

A muddy, slushy mess

It rained today. That's never good in Anchorage in February. So much for having washed my car recently. Maybe I'll make some pictures of the brown mess of everything tomorrow during my "Patriot's Day" off from work.

Frosted over

Days of heavy fog and temperatures in the teens created a heavy coat of frost over ... everything.

Ice crystals extending from a sign in my parking lot.

I wasn't the only one out taking pictures.

Waiting patiently for summertime. It appears my neighbors don't have snow tires for these bikes. (Many Alaskans do sport extra-tough tires for all-weather cycling.)

An icy sign.

Anchorage ashfall

Volcanic ash coats the snow and pavement in the Dimond Center Mall parking lot.

Mount Redoubt exploded more than 25 times while Davin was here on spring break keeping Anchorage dwellers on alert for ashfall and the airport jammed with stalled travelers. We finally got our first dusting of ash the day before he left. The sky turned gray like a duststorm and the snow took on a dirty hue. The mall closed early, so I picked up Josh from work where the air smelled of sulfer and the grit stuck to windshilds and stung your throat. There was no major damage or threat, but Davin's flight was cancelled until the following Tuesday extending his vacation a few days.

Mount Redoubt: 5 explosions and counting

Heather Bleick / AVO / USGS

Redoubt volcano spews steam and ash from a crater on its north flank March 15, 2009. Ash fall was limited to the south crater floor, rim, and extending south-southeast.

Fifth explosion rocks Mount Redoubt volcano

By GEORGE BRYSON
gbryson@adn.com

An erupting Mount Redoubt exploded again this morning at 4:31 a.m. -- its fifth and strongest discharge yet -- sending an ash cloud to new heights, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.

Ash has now been detected at an elevation of 60,000 feet above sea level, the National Weather Service reported.

Winds are still carrying the ash plume north toward the Susitna Valley, and minor ash fall has already been reported in Skwentna, the weather service said.

Ash is not expected in Anchorage or Wasilla at this time, the weather service said. READ THE FULL STORY AT ADN.COM.

AVO issues ash advisory for Redoubt

UPDATE from twitter:

alaska_avo As of 12:27AM March 23, 2009, AVO has recorded three large explosions at Redoubt volcano at the following times:March 22 10:38PMMarch 22 11:02PMMarch 23 00:14AMThe National Weather Service has issued an Ashfall Advisory. Link: http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php about 32 seconds ago from Twittermail

UPDATE:
Reports say the ash plume is headed north and ashfall is expected to be light.

Mount Redoubt erupts

Mount Redoubt erupted at about 11:38 p.m. tonight. The ash plume is estimated at 50,000 feet above sea level. Mount Redoubt is approximately 100 miles southeast of Anchorage. I'll keep everyone posted.

I'm following the news on adn.com, the U.S. Geological Survey, and twitter.

The ash plume is expected to reach Anchorage at approximately 2 a.m. Alaska time.

The mountain sleeps

Mount Redoubt has been downgraded from watch to advisory. Aviation alert levels have reduced from orange to yellow.

Mother nature making some noise

In response to Nick's question: Yes, it was my first earthquake that we felt on Saturday. Unless you count trembles I slept through in Idaho last year.

Now it looks like we might have some more active geology this week. Everyone is rumbling about Mount Redoubt and the likelihood it could erupt in the coming days. If the wind is strong enough, Alaska residents might experience falling ash, in addition to rumbles rain, daytime darkness, thunderstorms and power outages.

I'm keeping my camera charged and my water pitcher in the fridge full. And for my mother's benefit, yes, we have flashlights and a disaster plan.

Shake, shake, shakedown

This morning, Josh was ironing his shirt and I was online when everything began to tremble, the furniture rattled and the walls and floor shook. "Are we having an earthquake?" I asked. It was over in about 30 seconds. Nothing fell or broke. I'm monitoring the local news stations and Web sites, but no one has reported it yet.