Batten down the hatches, here comes winter

The season has quickly changed from a nice Indian summer to fall that feels like winter. Two days ago I awoke to sub freezing temps, the first of the season. A hard frost hit the valley, signalling the official end to garden season. I had picked the remainder of our vegatables from the garden (cucumbers, tomatoes and green peppers) the night before in anticipation of the cold front.

Its great when change of season comes on strong. The leaves color change seemed to change a lot faster than last years. Leaves literally changed colors overnight a week or so ago, then dropped rapidly in the cold stiff winds. The tree in the backyard lost all its leaves in one windy day.

In the yearly ritual, I removed the screens and put on the storm windows. The plants in the garden were pulled up and taken to the curb. Leaves raked into a pile and bagged.

Snow is falling today in Missoula. No accumlation here yet, but in the mountains there definitetly is. And just a little further to the east the mountain locations got hammered yesterday. The Tobacco Roots have recieved 60" out of this storm, check out the Albro Lake Snotel. Maybe this is a sign for a good winter, who knows but I like what the Farmers Almanac has to say:

Winter will be much colder and drier than normal, on average, with snowfall above normal in the north and below normal in the south. The coldest temperatures will occur in late December; early, mid-, and late January; and early February. The snowiest periods will be in mid-November, early and mid-December, mid- and late January, and late February.

And lastly, just a screen shot of the Montana Highway cameras. Check out all the snow, huzzah.