Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Still Waiting...

With my space heater fan turned off I hear the wind rustling nervously at the fabric of my weatherport. A truck passes on the haul road uphill from camp, a faint sound that registers simply as "not the Toolik Taxi". I'm getting colder, but I have heat at my fingertips. The two people at Anaktuvuk will be very cold tonight. They have a tent provided with their emergency gear, but I can't imagine it is enough. The National Weather Service calls for:


TONIGHT...CLOUDY. RAIN LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. PATCHY FOG AFTER
MIDNIGHT. LOWS AROUND 40. SOUTH WINDS AROUND 15 MPH.
.TUESDAY...RAIN LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL FALLING TO 2000 FEET.
ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE. PATCHY FOG. TEMPERATURES
STEADY 35 TO 45. VARIABLE WINDS LESS THAN 15 MPH.

The forecasts here cover such a huge area they are often sketchy. It could be 40 on average but locally some parts of the tundra could be much colder. Or, possibly, warmer. I hope it stays dry for them.

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