The end of the deep freeze

Pelly Crossing in -45 degree temps - full moon light

My God it chilly!!!  Yesterday morning, my students reported that their thermometers had dipped to -50 ºC, a record low for this season.  Didn't know that our thermometers could read such low temperatures!  Thankfully, the end of our cold snap is in sight.
What a week it was as the temperature barely made it over the -40 ºC threshold.  Throughout the week school bus pick ups were cancelled, the day care was closed, our travelling doctor could not make it into Pelly and many folks postponed road trips to Whitehorse because it was far too dangerous to drive the 4hr journey in minus forty degree temps.  Many here went to bed for the night forgetting to stoke their wood stoves with enough fuel.  Sadly, they awoke the next morning to frozen pipes.  Zippers were frozen shut, fingers and toes numbed far too quickly and I was shocked at how little time it took for frost bite to grab hold of the tip of my nose.  Boy, it was cold - so cold that even the our ravens were spotted bundled up together with feathers ruffled trying to conserve as much body heat as possible.  Not a bird song was heard throughout the week.
For much of the cold snap a thick blanket of wood smoke descended upon much of Pelly Crossing.  The haze certainly created some classic winter scenes as the sun rose behind the spruce trees with its gold rays radiating in every which way.  The evening sunsets were equally brilliant as the skies were ablaze in gold, yellow and reds.
One a positive note - the evening skies were crystal clear as billions upon billions of twinkling stars lit up the otherwise dark winter sky.  Unfortunately for us, it seemed that even the northern lights were too cold to dance for us this past week :)  Just kidding!  Solar activity was minimal the last few days, hence the lack of northern lights.  NOAA forecasters are predicting a 25% chance of spotting aurora over our area this weekend as an incoming CME (coronal mass ejection) is expected to hit the Earth in the next 36 hours.  High latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.  Unfortunately for us here in the Pelly, the weekend weather calls for cloudy conditions and snow flurries. Think positive Claus, the clouds will bring along warmer temps :)
Hope all is well in your corner of the world!
Cheers,
Claus