Track Report

The skate track has set up amazingly well and has hardened up but isn't icy.  It's beautiful.  Doug has gone out again since yesterday morning and added some fun detours to ski on.

The classic track is holding up pretty well, except in the Cow Pasture and some spots here and there.

Unfortunately there have been some people walking down the middle of the skate track over by the Cow Pasture (southern end of the golf course).  Ugh.  The footprint holes haven't ruined the track there completely, but it's not great.  I'm sure it was unintended and not malicious - some people just don't know better.

February Weather Report

(In case you're wondering about the track condition, check the post just after this one.  Doug has been hard at work and has done wonders!  Thank you, Doug!)

Lee Warnick sends out this weather recap each month as part of a Rexburg Weather Group, and has given me permission to post it on this blog.  It's interesting to view weather variations.

FEBRUARY PRECIPITATION: 

Precipitation: 0.07 / 9 percent of average

Snowfall: 2.5 / 28 percent of average

2018 annual precipitation (2 of 12 months): 1.39 / 79 percent of average

2017-18 water year precipitation (5 of 12 months): 3.49 / 71 percent of average

2017-18 season snowfall: 32.1 / 66 percent of average

     • This, remarkably and strangely, was our driest February on record, breaking the previous mark of 0.10 inch set in 2002 (right in the middle of our intense millennial drought). 

     • How remarkably and strangely? We had our driest-ever February despite having at least a trace of rain or snow fall on 16 of the month's 28 days (and all but two days in the month's final two weeks!). Some of the systems that dumped epochal amounts of snow in parts of Montana and brought much-needed significant snowfalls to Utah left us almost completely high and dry. Under normal circumstances, we had more than enough opportunities to reach normal precip, not break the all-time record for least precip. Salt Lake City had normal precip and Great Falls three times the normal precip (including nearly 3 feet of snow). Pocatello and Boise managed 55-65 percent of their normals, so the record-breaking dearth in Idaho Falls and Rexburg was the white tiger. This is one of the strangest anomalies I've seen in all my years of weather-watching.

     • Our weird streak of alternating months of wet and dry weather has reached 7. As you can gather from all the brown numbers above, dry months have been drier than wet months have been wet over this run. And with the wild start to March (some storms finally delivered!), this odd-even streak has a decent chance to continue -- we've received more than half of March's normal precip in the first 4 days.

FEBRUARY TEMPERATURES:

High temperatures: 34.5 / 1.2 degrees above normal

Low temperatures: 20.2 / 5.5 degrees above normal

Zero or below days: 0     Normal: 4.1

Highest wind gust: 53 mph on the 17th

Number of windy days: 9    Normal: 4.0

Highest temperature: 48 on the 8th

Lowest temperature: 4 on the 20th

Lowest wind chill: -8 on the 20th

     • February's average high temps were about the same as January's, which means February's were a bit closer to what we're used to. Not so with low temps, which continued way, way above normal for the 3rd time in the past 4 months.

     • We've dropped to zero or below just 3 times this winter. If we stay here, which is likely, this will be the 3rd lowest seasonal total of zero-or-below days in the 47 years of Rexburg's weather annals.

     • The first half of February continued January's prevailing balmy pattern, and we could well have been flirting with all-time records had it continued (notice how the snow melted really fast and early this year). But the final two weeks were colder than normal, evening things out somewhat. In February's first two weeks, high temps were below freezing just once (Rexburg's normal high temp doesn't rise above freezing until Feb. 11); they were at or below freezing on 12 of the month's final 14 days.

     • It was also windy in February, which often signals a stormy weather pattern with plenty of snow or rain. But wait until you read the news about February precip!

Grooming Report

Doug and Mother Nature have worked a miracle - skiing here in March! The track is beautiful (see pictures below).  The skate track is pretty soft right now (still new enough that it hasn't set), but it's lovely.  If you have a quiver, soft-flex skis are great on this track until it hardens up.
Doug also set the classic tracks.  The classic tracks look amazing, with just a few bare patches - like two tiny spots.
Just heads up, the port-a-potty is not on site anymore but you can use the Redd's Grill bathrooms if necessary.  (And after you ski, you can treat yourself to a tasty burger, salad, or a cup of hot cocoa.  Yum!)

Skate track groomed, Classic skiers need to kick their own track

Great news! Doug has been hard at work. He sent this text this morning:
The trail is ski-able again for skating.   The base is  minimal, but saying that, I groomed last night and I am headed out again now.  With what we had yesterday and where we are today it will be pretty good.  Classic skiers/non-skaters PLEASE ski on the FAR edge of the skate track so it doesn’t ruin it for skating, and then everyone will have a good time.  There is not nearly enough snow to set classic tracks.  And with the forecast it will not last long.  That being said let's all have a good time while it lasts.