Tuesday, July 29, 2008

“Gloomy summer headed toward infamy”











This is summer? It feels like spring. The snow, in the crevices of this low mountain, is usually melted in July and August. Now the water is cascading down the mountain in small streams that meet and form braided, tiny water falls.

The lupines, which remind me of Texas bluebonnets, are tall. I see less magenta fireweed than most years but the white Queen Ann’s lace is abundant.

How cold is it? The title of this blog and the following paragraphs were published on July 24th, 2008 in the Anchorage Daily News.
“CHILLY: Anchorage could hit 65 degrees for fewest days on record.
By GEORGE BRYSONgbryson@adn.com
The coldest summer ever? You might be looking at it, weather folks say. Right now the so-called summer of '08 is on pace to produce the fewest days ever recorded in which the temperature in Anchorage managed to reach 65 degrees.

That unhappy record was set in 1970, when we only made it to the 65-degree mark, which many Alaskans consider a nice temperature, 16 days out of 365.

This year, however -- with the summer more than half over -- there have been only seven 65-degree days so far. And that's with just a month of potential "balmy" days remaining and the forecast looking gloomy.”

3 comments:

Jerry and Suzy said...

Darlene, the summer may be gloomy, but your pictures of the flowers reminded us of our 2005 visit to that glorious state of Alaska. We were on a caravan, and our day to tour Denali was spectacular. We actually got to see the whole mountain!

Thanks for sharing Alaska with us this year.

Laura said...

thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures.
laura

Tracey said...

It might be gloomy but the scenery is spectacular. I have added it to the places that one day I will visit. As we have more than enough sunshine I will send you some to brighten it up a bit.