A bit of a thaw

We've had a bit of a break from winter this weekend as the warm Chinook wind, which is famous in Alberta, has been blowing in our direction.

The Chinook can lift the temperature by as much as 50 degrees in a day and if you think that's impressive, in 1962 Pincher Creek saw one of the fastest temperature changes on record, when it rose by 41°C (from -19°C to 22°C) in one hour!

After weeks of sub zero highs, our temperatures weren't quite that warm, but it did reach +6c on Saturday, so we were able to wash the car for the first time since November. It's been warm enough to melt the some of the snow too, much to the delight of our resident rabbits and deer who, for the first time in 6 weeks, haven't had to dig for grass. I spotted this family of White Tail deer making the most of the thaw!

Jim arrived back from his boys trip to Fernie on Friday night, having left at 4:30am on Thursday morning in an attempt to cram in two full days of skiing. Despite the 8 hours of commuting (4hrs each way) he said it was well worth the trip, especially as they arrived to find 28cm of fresh snow had fallen overnight, on top of the metre they already had.