nature, Photography

Is It Winter?

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Here in the valley we have had buckets and buckets of rain which in the mountains is coming down as snow, and as low as 800 metres above ground (2625 ft), to be exact.

On the nearby mountain tops it’s snowing …
… but here in the valley it’s an almost non-stop light rain.

Our neighbourhood ski resort, Apex *(https://apexresort.com/), is opening soon but there are other undeniable signs, too.

There’s a proliferation of barberries and I’ve noticed that the ducks, geese and coots are all starting their winter huddles. Today during my walk, I could see my breath a bit too, despite the fact that it was 5° (41F).

But probably the best indicator is the snow on the mountains. That’s a pretty definite sign!

So I’m thinking that winter is surely here, and no matter how we parse it, we’ve got a good two months before there will be an inkling of a change. Happy winter Wednesday. ❄️

* For information only. This is not an advertisement nor have I been paid to mention Apex ski resort.

28 thoughts on “Is It Winter?”

    1. We usually go to DR for a bit of a break but have decided not to this year and have instead opted for some long weekends in a few great spots that we know. Compared to the Arctic and subarctic, it’s also not much of a winter here, either, just rather rainy! 😊

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  6. That’s a beautiful view, Lynette! Our mountains have a bit of snow on top too thanks to what we are getting from those atmospheric rivers. Windy and cloudy this morning.

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  8. My daughter and family skied Apex last year — they needed way more snow than they had so hopefully they have been dumped on like all the other resorts.
    Such pretty red berries!

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    1. Big White, Apex, Baldy, they were all in trouble last year. Except for the one 4-day cold snap here in the valley that killed all the stone fruit buds, the temperature in Penticton averaged about 10° through December and January with very little precipitation at all. The weather we’re having this autumn is much more normal than the past few with rain down here and snow at the higher elevations. The ski resorts all seem to have excellent conditions and Big White is open already with Apex opening Dec 7. I know that Apex closed early in February (I think) because of poor conditions. Yes, the barberries are everywhere; so great to have a bit of colour! Cheers.

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      1. I haven’t thought about Baldy in years and didn’t realize it was still running. We were going to do an Okanogan swing out last year on our ski trip but our friends in Kelowna said “don’t come” as conditions were crappy. Maybe this year we will swing thru. Bernie

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        1. This year is already much better than last or so it seems. I don’t ski any more so I’m going by reports and my own visual assessment. We definitely have much more snow than last year, for sure. Baldy was closed for a few years but is now operated by a cooperative, I believe. It’s supposed to be very reasonably priced and is open intermittently until Dec 12 when it starts full operations. https://baldyresort.com/
          Cheers.

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    1. Thanks Lori. 😊 We will start to see some signs of spring around the beginning of Feb or end of January but only here in the valley. In the mountains it will still be 🥶. I agree hibernation feels about right. Cheers.

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