The only way it was 70 is if you turned up the thermostat in your office. In 46 years living here, I don't recall a summer like this. It's been cloudy with very little rain until recently. This afternoon wasn't bad, but that was for just a few hours.

I went somewhere warm & sunny for ten days (SEA & DEN) so I'm considering that my summer, at least until my two weeks in EZE for CowDo

I was in Nome June 8-11. On the 10th, we had about 1/2 hour of wet snow during the late afternoon, then on the morning of the 11th, about one inch of snow! If I understand it correctly, that was apparently the first accumulating snow for Nome in June in decades. People there were not pleased.

Interestingly enough, we flew to Fairbanks later on the 11th, then had a nice thunderstorm with pea size hail on the 12th!

riftime

Not terribly uncommon in Fairbanks in summer, though I only recall it happening once every couple years. I was up there in mid-June (admittedly the best possible time to go) and we had beautiful weather for a solid 5 days (though it rained before and after I was there, I gather). Hey, at least no forest fire smoke...

and "termination dust", ha! I lived in AK for 18 years and never once heard that term. Is it an Anchorage thing? The more I think about it we don't really have that phenomenon in Fairbanks, so perhaps it's regional.

I've only heard Termination Dust in areas of Alaska where there are mountains. The snow starts showing at the top of the mountains and gradually descends to the lower elevations....sometimes not so gradually.



'

It's been getting a bit moderate in Fairbanks, but no sign of the alleged "Termination Dust" or anything resembling it - just a couple summer thundershowers.

I'd imagine it could only be used in places not only where there are mountains but also where there are mountains that are snow-free in the summer. Most of Alaska's mountains maintain some sort of year-round snow cap. The Chugach Mountains (and others--the Kenai Mountains down south and the Talkeetna Mountains up north, but all in Southcentral) are [usually] snow-free by June or so. So when the T-dust hits in September or August, it's a big event. For it to hit in July means the world is ending.

Fairbanks doesn't have any local "mountains" on which to see T-dust. The Tanana hills and various domes surrounding Fairbanks aren't real mountains and aren't high enough to get hit with separate termination dust. And in large other parts of Alaska, there are either no mountains (the flat delta/slope lands of pretty much the entire western half and northern quarter of the state) or mountains that are high enough to stay covered in snow year-round (the Alaska Range, Brooks Range, Wrangell Mountains, etc.). Not sure about Southeast--their mountains are obviously not snow-covered in the summer, but I don't know if they use the term "termination dust."

jackal, I am melting in Texas. 106 today! I think I'll go buy a big old car with a huge a/c attached.

Right now I can only dream of what you can see in Alaska.

Or can't see--I haven't seen the Chugach for several days (though I did see Sleeping Lady last week sometime for the first time in memory).

It was a bit sunny out today, but I've spent the better part of the day either knocked out in the oral surgeon's chair or knocked out at home on pain meds (got all four wisdom teeth removed), so I haven't really paid much attention to the views. Speaking of which...gums are starting to hurt, so I think some more pills are in order... (I promise not to get addicted!)

Jeesh, jackal, with all those pain meds, are you starting to "feel the air?"

Hmm...I have been humming something to myself lately, but I can't quite remember all the words:

I love, er, something in the spring time
I love, er, that same thing in the fall
I love, umm, something in the summer when it sizzles
I love, uhh, it's on the tip of my tongue in the winter when it drizzles...

I love this something every moment
Every moment of the year
I love, er, it, why oh why do I love, uhh, it
Because my love is here

Good luck jackal! Don't drink any milk as that slows down the healing process!

Still melting in Texas!

I used to be able to see Sleeping Lady from where I lived.

I can't find a source to back this up, but the lore surrounding "termination dust" during my road-system childhood was that it signaled not just the end of summer & tourism, but the coming of termination notices to all the summer hires.

Also, the sun appears to be gracing us, however briefly, in midtown Anchorage today. Finally.

That termination dust signaled the end of the construction season in Alaska. I can't remember the first time I heard the expression. Long time ago. Can't remember who used the expression first either.

I was in Alaska from June 20-29. It only really rained 1 day and was mostly cloudly on another day. The other 7 days or so it was relatively bright and sunny. I found the weather perfect, although my wife who's from TX didnt think so! I guess, for once, the weather gods were smiling at me...
For others contemplating a trip to Alaska, I highly recommend going around mid-June, as I repeatedly read on these boards..

and here's what's happening in the interior ...

http://newsminer.com/news/2008/jul/2...chardson-high/