Sunrise 10:59 am, sunset 2:46 pm for a day length of 3 hours 47 minutes–we’ve gained 6 minutes since the solstice, and will gain another 2 minutes tomorrow! It’s cloudy here and relatively warm–9 degrees (F) below zero. It isn’t snowing, though–we’ve had just enough since that freezing rain last November to make up for the snow’s settling. Nice in terms of shovling and plowing; not at all nice in terms of deep frost–there’ll be some wells freezing this winter. I suspect the voles, who normally winter under the snow, are having a hard time, too.

Yes, snow is an insulator, and a very good one. Good snow depth, with our usual light, fluffy snow, keeps the ground surface only a few degrees below freezing, even when the snow surface–and the air–is forty below or colder. Not this year, between the freezing rain (most of which soaked into the snow) and the relatively thin cover. So far we’ve had only 2.5 inches in December, well below average.

Too dark even near noon for a good picture of the snow stake, but you can see that it’s just over the 10″ mark again–or still.