My Western Adventure - Pt. 2

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY

BRIGHAM CITY, UT (4:00am, Tuesday, 10/23) - I crossed into Utah around 8pm last night, then made it here to my current location by 10pm. I had been on the road since 6:30am and was quite tired. However not as tired as driving in rain. I drove in enough rain (often moderate to heavy) across SW Wyoming, SE Idaho, and NE Utah to make me sick of it. It's still raining, but that's fine with me since it's good sleeping weather. I have also driven through hail, snow, snow pellets, and a brief period of sleet. I left Old Faithful at 12:30pm yesterday in light rain. By the time I reached the continental divide at ~8300 feet, it was already snowing and beginning to cover the road with a dusting. I estimate that I drove about 50 miles in snow, with 30-40 miles featuring snow on the road. Thankfully, I am a good driver in the snow - I have to be with a 4-cylinder car and no snow tires. Once I dropped below about 6000 feet in elevation about 20 miles south of the south entrance to Yellowstone, snow changed to rain and that was pretty much the story for the rest of the way. As I left Jackson, WY, a thunderstorm moved in (38 degrees) bringing heavy rain and hail (pea size). Hail begain to cover the road and that wasnt much fun to drive on. Overall, I would say of the 14 hours on the road yesterday, it was precipitating in some form for about 10 hours, with the longest dry spell occurring while I was at Yellowstone (thankfully) from about 9am-12pm. Looks like I will see plenty more rain today as I venture down to Salt Lake City to visit my friends. Once I get a chance, I will post again, describing the many great experiences yesterday, as well as post some more pictures on facebook.

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My Western Adventure

Over the course of the upcoming week, I will be going on a road trip to visit friends in Salt Lake City. Along the way there and back, I will be visiting various landmarks and tourist sites in ND/SD/MT/WY/UT. When possible, I will update this with daily entries along the way and hopefully post some pictures as well. This is my first road trip in the mountain time zone and I am looking forward to chronicling this adventure.

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FINAL PREPARATIONS

GRAND FORKS, ND (7:30am, Friday, 10/19) - Tomorrow I leave for a week long road trip and I still have not finalized my itinerary or packed. The latter is more of a byproduct of doing laundry still, while the former is irritating the crap out of me. I love road trips and I love planning for them - usually weeks in advance - so this is a strange feeling before a road trip. I know where I want to go, and I know when I need to be in Salt Lake City (Tuesday through Thursday), but the order in which I want to see landmarks prior to and after SLC - and thus the direction I travel going and coming - has been continuously revised. Another big factor is the weather forecast. Latest indications on the GFS and ECMWF indicate a deepening trough over the west next week with multiple waves ejecting toward the Rockies and Northern Plains. Of note is the increasing likelihood of snow and colder temperatures by the time I need to make my return trek. This means I need to get to one of my destinations (Yellowstone) as quick as possible, and probably take a more southern route through the mountains on the way back. So I'm currently leaning toward driving as far west as I can tomorrow, in order to get to Yellowstone as soon as possible. My original plan was a short drive on Day 1, then camp where Teddy Roosevelt used to live in the North Dakota Badlands, just north of Medora, ND. I still want to do that, but I may try on the way back and hope the GFS is wrong about colder air arriving. I have looked into several different routes, but rather than spoil my plans (for those of you that don't know), I'll close for now as I have some more work to do.

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN

FARGO, ND (8:30am, Saturday, 10/20) - Today will provide the best weather of my trip with dry weather and above normal temperatures from here to as far west as I can drive. It should be good camping weather tonight, and although I really want to camp at Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l Park in western North Dakota, I also want to drive further along than that. So I've decided to drive southwest toward my final destination of Wolf Camp in Keystone, SD - right on the doorsteps of Mt. Rushmore. Along the way, I will make stops in Pierre to see the state capitol, then drive through the Ft. Pierre National Grassland en route to Badlands Nat'l Park. This will clearly be the highlight of my day and plan to really enjoy the views. After my drive through there I will stop for some free water at the tourist trap Wall Drug Store. My final sight to see prior to camping this evening will be at Dinosaur Park in Rapid City. That's all for now, time to hit the road.

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JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN

KEYSTONE, SD (9:30aam, Sunday 10/21) - Yesterday afternoon/evening I drove the scenic loop through Badlands National Park. That was without a doubt one of the most picturesque landscapes I have ever seen. I was amazed by what I saw throughout the 40 mile loop and took extra time than planned to take it all in. I could have easily spent an entire day there walking along the trails and taking even more pictures than the 100 or so I took. Without a doubt, the Badlands rank in my Top 3 for most beautiful sights I have seen. After completing the loop I ended in Wall, SD - home of the tourist trap Wall Drug. Unfortunately my 6:30pm arrival was a half hour after they close - which seemed strange to me for a Saturday. So no free water or bumper sticker for me. I then progressed to Rapid City for dinner and an evening view of Dinosaur Park in the higher elevations of the city. From there I reached my final destination in Keystone, SD - just 1/4 mile shy of Mt. Rushmore. Regretfully the campground closed their gates at 9pm and once again I was a half hour late due to the extra time spent in the Badlands. So hopefully I will be able to camp tonight - wherever that may be.

I am about to make the short drive to Mt. Rushmore - then from there take a scenic drive through the region. There are several on-lane tunnels and "pig-tail" loops that are fairly unique to this region, which I am excited to see. Depending on time, I will loop around and see the Crazy Horse Memorial before venturing west-northwest toward Devils Tower in Wyoming ,and Little Big Horn and Pompeys Pillar in Montana. That will place me near Billings this evening, and depending on how I feel - I will either stay there or continue driving toward Livingston or Gardiner. So hence, the title - I know what I want to see today, but where I end up will depend on time and tiredness. Should be a fairly cloudy day today with some rain showers becoming possible by the time I reach Billings. Comfortable temperatures though, with highs in the 50s.

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KEEP ON TRUCKIN'

GREYCLIFF, MT (11:00pm, Sunday, 10/21) - I am sitting at a rest area in Greycliff, MT which is a little more than halfway between Billings and Livingston. After dinner at Fuddrucker's (WIN!) in Billings, I headed over to the Comfort Inn to use the WiFi they generously provide for guests of their parking lot. ;-) After a brief analysis of model data for Yellowstone tomorrow, it seems snowy conditions should hold off until afternoon. So I made the decision to go for it. My goal is to get as close as possible to Yellowstone tonight, then drive through the North Entrance near Gardiner, MT at the crack of dawn. I figure I've got 4-6 hours to get in and out of Yellowstone and the Tetons before conditions deteriorate. I feel confident I can achieve this. Ahhh...this trip becomes even more adventurous! I love it!

Today's excitement was mainly during the first half of the day. My first stop was just up the road from my living quarters last night, at Mount Rushmore. It looks even more incredible in person, though it is even taller (~500 feet) than I expected. I also had breakfast at Mt. Rushmore, courtesy of the Carver's Cafe. There I purchased the Monumental Special - featuring 2 scrambled eggs, 2 sausage links, home fries, and a biscuit w/ gravy. I found the meal satisfying in both taste and portion size. On the way out I stopped in the Gift Shop and bought souveniers for myself and others. The highlight of my purchase was a Teddy Roosevelt bobble head - which will be an splendid addition to the den in the near future. After leaving there, I took the scenic route along Iron Mountain Road towards Custer, SD. My oh my, that was the best scenic route I have ever been on and I consider it a "must" when visiting Mt. Rushmore. That road was awesome! It featured "pig-tail loops", many scenic overlooks of Mt. Rushmore, one lane natural tunnels, and to further reduce it's footprint on nature - there were a couple of times where the road split in half around a bunch of trees. And the best of all, I saw 3 buffalo roam nearby - success!

Early October Snow

On Thursday 10/4, we received our first snow of the year. I woke up that morning around 8:30am to see about 2.5" of very slushy snow on the ground, with snow still falling. The official snowfall for the day was 3.5" at the University. This smashed my previous personal mark of earliest snowfall (Trace - 11/9) by 35 days, and earliest measurable snowfall (1.1" - 11/15) by 41 days, both set last year here in Grand Forks. It is worth noting that this was even early for Grand Forks standards. The all-time record for earliest 1" of snowfall in Grand Forks was 10/02/1950, so this ranks as one of the earliest ever.

We have not had any snow since, but the pattern has been active until the past few days. Through the first 10 days of the month, precipitation was recorded during 6 of those days. A bit of a dry stretch has moved in for the past few days and temperatures have trended back to normal. For today and tomorrow, we have a decent chance of topping out near 65° - which may be the last time until late March or April, or if we are really unlucky, May.

2011-12 Seasonal Snowfall Comparison

Here is a final comparison of snowfall for all the locations I've lived at:

Grand Forks, ND
Seasonal Snowfall: 27.2"
Average Annual Snowfall: 42.8"
Departure from (Percentage of) Normal: -15.6" (63.6%)

Shawnee, KS (data used from KMCI)
Seasonal Snowfall: 3.9"
Average Annual Snowfall: 18.8"
Departure from (Percentage of) Normal: -14.9" (20.7%)

California, PA (data used from KPIT)
Seasonal Snowfall: 36.9"
Average Annual Snowfall: 41.9" (Note: California receives much less)
Departure from (Percentage of) Normal: --5.0" (88.1%)

Cambridge, MD
Seasonal Snowfall: 0.75"
Average Annual Snowfall: 14.1"
Departure from (Percentage of) Normal: -13.85" (5.3%)

February/March/April 2012 Climate Summaries

FEBRUARY 2012 CLIMATE SUMMARY

Day	High	Low	Dep.	Precip.	Snow
1	40	11	+18	0.00"	0.0"
2	28	12	+12	0.00"	0.0"
3	29	20	+17	0.00"	0.0"
4	35	17	+17	0.00"	0.0"
5	43	15	+20	0.00"	0.0"
6	35	9	+13	0.00"	0.0"
7	19	-1	+0	0.00"	0.0"
8	34	5	+10	0.00"	0.0"
9	26	-2	+2	0.00"	0.0"
10	4	-11	-13	0.00"	0.0"
11	12	-6	-8	0.00"	0.0"
12	30	-2	+14	0.00"	0.0"
13	36	7	+11	0.00"	0.0"
14	36	10	+10	0.00"	0.0"
15	36	22	+17	0.01"	Trace
16	36	19	+16	0.00"	0.0"
17	30	15	+10	Trace	Trace
18	39	12	+13	0.00"	0.0"
19	40	17	+16	0.00"	0.0"
20	38	28	+19	0.37"	3.7"
21	33	17	+11	0.02"	0.2"
22	25	8	+3	0.01"	0.3"
23	35	5	+5	Trace	0.1"
24	21	2	-3	Trace	0.8"
25	20	-9	-10	Trace	0.1"
26	22	12	+1	0.06"	2.1"
27	11	-2	-12	0.00"	0.0"
28	30	1	-1	0.00"	0.0"
29	27	23	+8	0.00"	Trace
Feb. 2012	29.3	8.8	+7.0	0.47"	7.3"

Average High: 29.3°F [Departure from Normal: +7.4°F] 

Average Low: 8.8°F [Departure from Normal: +6.7°F] 

Mean Temperature: 19.0°F [Departure From Normal: +7.0°F] 

Total Precipitation: 0.47" [Departure from Normal: -0.12"; 80% of normal] 

Total Snowfall: 7.3" [Departure from Normal: +0.7"; 111% of normal] 

Seasonal Snowfall: 21.0" [Departure from Normal: -14.3"; 49% of normal]

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MARCH 2012 CLIMATE SUMMARY

Day	High	Low	Dep.	Precip.	Snow
1	31	22	+8	0.02"	0.3"
2	28	13	+2	0.08"	2.3"
3	14	0	-13	Trace	0.1"
4	20	-1	-10	0.04"	1.9"
5	33	5	-1	0.02"	0.2"
6	37	24	+10	0.00"	0.0"
7	30	15	+2	Trace	Trace
8	31	9	-2	0.08"	1.5"
9	28	3	-6	0.00"	0.0"
10	49	26	+15	0.00"	0.0"
11	57R	32	+22	0.00"	0.0"
12	56	35	+22	0.32"	0.0"
13	59R	30	+21	0.00"	0.0"
14	52	33	+18	0.00"	0.0"
15	58	32	+20	0.00"	0.0"
16	73R	37	+29	0.00"	0.0"
17	70R	40	+29	0.00"	0.0"
18	73	52	+36	0.00"	0.0"
19	74R	54	+37	0.20"	0.0"
20	57	39	+20	0.00"	0.0"
21	69R	35	+24	0.00"	0.0"
22	68	37	+24	0.03"	0.0"
23	59	54	+27	0.41"	0.0"
24	55	31	+13	0.00"	0.0"
25	39	27	+2	0.00"	0.0"
26	51	30	+10	0.00"	0.0"
27	47	33	+8	0.08"	Trace
28	44	32	+6	0.16"	0.3"
29	41	35	+5	0.49"	0.0"
30	54	38	+12	0.00"	0.0"
31	68	46	+23	0.00"	0.0"
March 2012	49.2	29.0	+9.7	1.93"	6.6"

Average High: 49.2°F [Departure from Normal: +14.6°F] 

Average Low: 29.0°F [Departure from Normal: +11.4°F] 

Mean Temperature: 39.1°F [Departure From Normal: +13.0°F] 

Total Precipitation: 1.93" [Departure from Normal: +0.91"; 189% of normal] 

Total Snowfall: 6.6" [Departure from Normal: +0.2"; 103% of normal] 

Seasonal Snowfall: 27.2" [Departure from Normal: -15.6"; 62% of normal]

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APRIL 2012 CLIMATE SUMMARY

Day	High	Low	Dep.	Precip.	Snow
1	73	45	+25	0.00"	0.0"
2	54	39	+12	0.31"	Trace
3	60	33	+12	0.00"	0.0"
4	63	27	+9	0.00"	0.0"
5	65	30	+12	0.00"	0.0"
6	67	38	+16	0.00"	0.0"
7	55	35	+7	Trace	0.0"
8	56	30	+5	0.00"	0.0"
9	42	27	-4	Trace	Trace
10	38	22	-9	0.00"	0.0"
11	48	19	-6	0.00"	0.0"
12	68	26	+7	Trace	0.0"
13	54	46	+9	0.38"	0.0"
14	71	42	+16	Trace	0.0"
15	53	33	+1	0.00"	0.0"
16	39	24	-10	0.00"	0.0"
17	60	21	-2	0.46"	0.0"
18	54	37	+2	Trace	0.0"
19	54	37	+2	0.00"	0.0"
20	54	37	+2	0.00"	0.0"
21	53	33	-2	0.14"	0.0"
22	65	26	0	0.00"	0.0"
23	77	30	+8	0.00"	0.0"
24	76	42	+13	0.00"	0.0"
25	67	37	+5	0.00"	0.0"
26	56	25	-6	0.00"	0.0"
27	54	43	+1	0.07"	0.0"
28	59	40	+2	Trace	0.0"
29	56	42	0	0.48"	0.0"
30	69	37	+4	0.00"	0.0"
March 2012	58.7	33.4	+9.7	1.84"	Trace

Average High: 58.7°F [Departure from Normal: +4.8°F] 

Average Low: 33.4°F [Departure from Normal: +3.4°F] 

Mean Temperature: 46.1°F [Departure From Normal: +4.1°F] 

Total Precipitation: 1.84" [Departure from Normal: +0.86"; 188% of normal] 

Total Snowfall: Trace [Departure from Normal: -1.0"; 0% of normal] 

Seasonal Snowfall: 27.2" [Departure from Normal: -15.6"; 62% of normal]

Winter Already?

Today is the last day of the MLB regular season, so naturally it is time to think about an approaching snowstorm. Huh?

Yes, it appears Earth has stopped rotating as I am under a winter storm warning for 6-10" while watching the Baltimore Orioles compete for the AL East crown. After last year's atypical North Dakota winter, I admit I am not sure if I am ready for a half foot of snow on October 4th. It seems though that will be the case. After analyzing the 12z model runs, the GFS provides the least amount of QPF falling as snow - approximately 0.53". Even with a reasonable early season 'wet snow' 8:1 ratio, that is still a nice 4" for tomorrow. I am not prepared to buy the 14" that the 12z NAM was showing, but I think somewhere around 6" is doable. The 12z ECMWF had approximately 0.7" falling as snow, which at 8:1 and 10:1 ratios, would give us 5.6" to 7" of snow, respectively.

Of note is the fact that over the last 6 days, high temperatures at GFK have been 76, 80, 85, 85, 71, and 80. However, rain looks to change to snow prior to dawn at around 4am. Couple that with models showing a band of potentially moderate to heavy snow shortly thereafter, and those warm ground temperatures could be overcome.

I have my shovel ready, let's see what the morning has to offer!