We have just returned from Lucille Lake, the site of the Wasilla High School ALISON study site. It was very reminiscent of this time three years ago when Martin visited Mystic Lake (Amos Lakes) to set up a study site with Fred McElroy. Now, as then, the air temperature is well above freezing (~5°C), all the snow has melted, and there is standing water on the bare, melting ice.

Just installed, the ice thickness gauge sits on the bare ice at Lucille Lake. The many lighter patches in the ice are concentrations of gas bubbles. Photo taken on 9 December 2005.

While it was bit nerve-wracking on the ice, we had little difficulty setting up the study site. There wasn’t much to do other than put in the ice thickness gauge and then drill twenty-one shallow holes for the wooden stakes. All this required some care to avoid slipping and falling over. You don’t really walk on the ice in melting conditions; you shuffle, because lifting your feet increases the likelihood of slipping and falling, and getting a soaking.

Now we have to hope that the weather won’t remain abnormally warm for too much longer, and the ice gauge and stakes will freeze in. We would really like the warm, moisture-laden southerly air flow to be replaced with something more seasonal as soon as possible. This weather is in stark contrast to when we were here this time last year to set up the study site. Then, we spent a beautiful cold, clear and calm day on the ice with five different classes of students. Today is overcast and windy, as well as warm, and no students were allowed on the ice, by order of Mr. Pasco, the principal. A sensible decision in view of what we experienced.

The vigorous air flow off the Pacific Ocean made our drive down the Parks Highway more interesting than we cared for. It was (1) very windy between Healy and Cantwell, where the air was being squeezed through the mountains, (2) snowing with poor visibility on Broad Pass, where three caribou crossed the road right in front of us, (3) raining at times and the road was very slushy as we lost elevation on the long, downhill approach to Trapper Creek, and (4) steadily drier as we approached Wasilla. Yet, because we left Fairbanks at 7:50 am, we still arrived at Wasilla in time to buy much needed coffee at the Mocha Moose before meeting Cheryl Abbott at the high school at 3 pm.

Cheryl helped to set up the study site mid-afternoon, after we had spent the school day (7:30 am – 1 pm) in her classroom talking to five different classes. We covered a lot of ground, including: (1) ALISON; (2) changing snow, ice and permafrost in Alaska; (3) the Nenana Ice Classic break-up record as a proxy for climate change; and (4) weather and climate variation and change.

Cheryl (left) and Kim walk carefully back to the beginning of the line of stakes that marks the sampling transect on the very wet Lucille Lake ice cover. Photograph taken on 9 December 2005.