JAN 29, 21 .. OUR LOCAL SNOW DISPOSAL SITE ..

During the winter, our snow has to be removed from roadways and parking lots to allow us to get around in our vehicles. So where does all of the snow (almost magically) disappear to during the winter?

Finding a place to dispose of collected snow poses a real challenge to communities, municipalities, and businesses as they clear roads, parking lots, bridges, and sidewalks.

As you can see below, in our parking lot, the snow is first plowed into relatively small piles. 

I was not able to be present to photograph this, and other piles of snow, when it was removed from our parking lot and hauled away.

At some point in time, front end loaders lift and dump the snow piles into trucks. After the snow has been loaded into trucks, it is then hauled to the various Snow Disposal Sites here in Anchorage where it is stockpiled for the duration of winter. Gradually, during the Spring and into the Summer, it melts and evaporates. I don't know how much (if any significant amount at all) of the snowmelt water percolates down into the ground.

Last May I published a Post showing our local Snow Disposal Site during the Spring when stored snow was still visible. If you are interested in seeing that Post you may click onto the below link.

http://bobbacaps.blogspot.com/2020/05/may-14-20-snow-in-anchorage-alaska-in.html

Winter has now arrived in full force so I decided to post some winter photos of our local Snow Disposal Site.

But first (in addition to the photos in the link above) below are several mid-summer photos of the Snow Disposal Site.

Below you get to see the action at our local Snow Disposal Site.

Believe me, there is a lot of real action with all of the trucks coming and going. 

Two Hundred and Twenty Thousand Cubic Yards of snow can be stockpiled here !

Here come the trucks.

And out they go to return with another load of snow.

It is fun to truly experience the nuances of winter up here in Alaska.

Cap and Patti

MAY 14, 20 .. SNOW? IN ANCHORAGE, ALASKA? IN THE MONTH OF MAY?

SNOW? 

IN ANCHORAGE, ALASKA? 

IN THE MONTH OF MAY?

Well yes and no at the same time. 

One of our good friends down in Phoenix, Arizona (where we saw 107°F during our visit last month) said to us during a telephone visit, after we told him that it was in the high 50's here, "Is there snow still on the ground up there?"

No not really (in the sense of his question) BUT at the same time yes, there still is some snow on the ground.

THE REST OF THE STORY

If you have never lived in a real by-gosh-and-by-golly snow area you don't understand that during the winter months, all of the snow that is plowed off the streets, parking lots and airport runways etc has to be put somewhere. 

Immediately adjacent to the area in which we live is one of the Anchorage Snow Disposal Sites.

As you will see in the below photos, it is enormous in size. The snow is not merely dumped onto the ground, it is stacked high by large front end loaders as the trucks hauling the snow depost their loads.

Here we go with a look at some snow in Anchorage Alaska in the month of May.

The first photo below shows the main street that leads into our residential area.

To the left in the above photo you see the entryway gate into our local Anchorage Snow Disposal Site.

Now we will explore the site and see some Snow in May. 

This Snow Disposal Site has a capacity of two hundred and twenty thousand cubic yards of snow.

  
In the next two photos we are looking East.

Looking to the South  from the entryway gate.

Now we are going to walk into the site and take a closer look at the large 'mini-mountain' of snow still remaining in May.

During my visit, I found some very scenic photographic views.

A closer look at the East face of the site.

Several photos showing the central area of the site.

The next two photos below look South.

A small bird wading around in the water.

The below photo, taken looking South from the entryway gate,  shows the South side of the Disposal Site.

Another view of the South side of the site looking back from the East end.

Now we are going to explore the South, side of the site. I hiked up over the snow to get the below view looking back to the East. 

Well that is that for snow in Anchorage in the month of May.

Smiles,

Cap and Patti