I still have a set of images and words from Thanksgiving, and those will come yet, but that was set aside when Snow Mother decided to give us some gifts. Snow in October is not surprising-- in recent years we've had snow in September, several times, even. This year, September was above average temperatures more often than not, and most dry, with no snow at all. Early October saw us still with nothing more than light frosts if any, and many things still flowering in the garden (I don't grow tender annuals, and had only peas and lettuce in the veg patch, which are not tender either). There'd been nights cold enough to send the poplars to colour, a bit late so they were overlapping the first of the Tamaracks (Larch) which are generally the last native trees to colour. To make the fall even more lovely, there'd been no strong winds, which often come along to knock the leaves off the poplars as soon as they turn. So, it was a relatively long, mild, dry (in a good way, harvest locally was rather early) autumn.
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| Road view, near home, pre-sunset |
Things started to shift around Oct 11 or 12, with a thunderstorm one night, light hail the next day! and a couple of notable frosts-- Aralia racemosa, an Ontario native plant that grows well here, but never quite makes it to ripened fruit, had yellowed and finally flopped-- my first sign of real frost.
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| Aralia racemosa, after frost |
We were forecast a few rain showers changing to flurries for the 13th, then maybe 2cm of snow overnight. In the end, no rain, snow began in the afternoon, and by the morning we had around 10cm! Light snow on following days.
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| On the way to town, late morning Oct 13, dairy farm, near Sylvan Lake |
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| Returning home, early afternoon Oct 13, field near Eckville |
This still would not have been too odd for mid-October, but it was followed by some nights nearer than not to -20C, no real melting apart from major roads, and in town, more snow a few days later- 10cm forecast that was more like 20. Today, Oct 20, we were forecast up to 5cm overnight, but at 10pm we already have that much, and still snowing...
With 30cm+ on the ground, on Oct 20, it begins to be doubtful all of this snow will melt before spring- in recent years we've had lasting snow from the end of Oct or early Nov. At this time, shadows and nights become long, high temps reached only in afternoon for a few hours, and while there are frequent melting events, snow remains in low or shaded spots (like my yard). Still anything can happen-- next week shows a string of daytimes above freezing.....
The following photos are from day after that first snow, October 14-- on the road to and from Rocky Mountain House--when fall was still showing through the snow in many places (that has diminished day by day, though there are still bits of colour around).. Things now are much whiter....
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| Tamaracks, fall colour |
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