January Thaw

Well, it has happened, or rather it is happening. Since about January 15 or so we have been having mild weather. Global warming? Nah, not this time, just a case of the January thaw, blamed by forecasters on the child, or El Niño.

Martin Luther King weekend (MLK) has been our traditional weekend Up North since Lynn and I were an item, 20 years now.  Always with Lynn's friends from grad school, Joel, Peggy and Peggy's family. The first time to Washburn, then many years to Lakewoods and Telemark near Cable, and more recently, the last five to six years to Big Powderhorn near Ironwood MI.

We moved from Cable to Ironwood when the snow here became too fickle and when our children (that we meanwhile had) discovered downhill skiing and snowboarding. As long as we've been going to Ironwood, MLK weekend was grim, close to 0F/-18C every year. This year was different. A warm-up had been announced for th week before, and while the weather guys are not so good at pinpointing the exact location of precipitation (especially the edge thereof), they tend to pretty good with temps.

For MLK, the weather was nothing short of awesome, down to the drive from the cities: mild temps and no precipitation meant clear roads, high speeds and early arrival. The kids did not have to cover every square inch of skin and for cross-country skiing, my eyelashes did not freeze, enabling me for the first time to admire the sights. The snow was colder than the air, much colder than the 37F/+3C. Great skiing.

The mild weather lingered into this week. Monday night, after returning from Michigan, I had a great Sisu ski class session at Battle Creek Park West in St. Paul and Mellie and I had a great skijoring outing on Wednesday night. But then, precipitation was announced and of course it was rain. And it is rain, it really sucks. Not enough to melt the snow but enough to make sidewalks, side streets and xc-ski tracks really icy. By Sunday Jan 24 it's supposed to be back to snow, I just hope it is going to be enough. By the middle of the weeks, it is going to be back to normal Jan weather, around 8F/-12C.