Alaskans' moods fall if snow doesn't

What's it like living in Anchorage when there's 5-½ hours of daylight and no snow?

Beth Nordlund at the city's parks and recreation department put it this way:

"I want to eat a bunch of lard and then crawl into bed."

So far, December's average temperature is 8 degrees warmer than usual, and as far as snow goes, the city is 14 inches behind average, according to the National Weather Service. At lunchtime Monday, Anchorage was only 2 degrees colder than Seattle.

Lawns are brown and bare. Clouds hover low. A strange, warm wind keeps kicking up dust in the streets. All this is demoralizing skiers, tripping up shoppers in icy parking lots, sapping the livelihood of snowplow drivers and generally putting the city in a funk.

"People have been kind of down," said Frank Lent, who manages the Kaladi Brothers Coffee shop on Brayton Drive, where regulars console themselves with extra shots of espresso, scoops of cocoa and big doses of half-and-half.

"Even myself, I'm kind of 'eh.' I think it's the weather."

Low-pressure systems from Russia and Japan have been swirling into Alaska, bringing high temperatures across the western part of the state, said John Stepetin, a National Weather Service specialist. Bethel, King Salmon, St. Paul — they don't have any snow right now either, he said.

Skiers are bummed

November was the fifth-warmest on record. At the Christmas-tree lighting at Town Square Park just after Thanksgiving, Santa Claus and reindeer arrived to find 3 inches of mud. There's no telling when it's going to let up, Stepetin said. A light dusting is in the forecast for Anchorage this week, but there won't be anything significant, he said.

"It's gray and dirty; it's dark because it doesn't reflect the light without snow," said Ben Arians, manager at Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking in Spenard. Not to mention ski sales dropped with a thud at the store after a promising October and November, he said.

Jan Buron, who coaches the cross-country-ski team at Service High, said students have been weight-training and running, with a few drives to find snow at Glen Alps. He has 30 freshmen who have barely been out on snow.

"I am not sure who can ski," he said.

Even ice-skating, a fall-back outdoor activity when there's no snow, is dicey. There has to be 12 inches of ice for the city to hot-mop Goose Lake, Cheney Lake and Westchester Lagoon, and so far there's only 6 inches, Nordlund said. The city rink is scheduled to open Dec. 22, she said. There have been reports of good skating on Potter Marsh.

At Bell's Nursery, Christmas-tree sales were brisk right after Thanksgiving and then fell off, owner Mike Mosesian said. The weather is putting a damper on the holiday spirit, he said.

"People become more enthusiastic when there's snow on the ground," he said.

Some misplaced outdoor types can be found taking yoga at the Laughing Lotus, where classes are held in extra-warm rooms. Dealing with the dark is all about attitude, said Svia Rothstein, one of the owners.

"I say, 'What do you mean, the sun doesn't rise? It spends the whole day rising slowly,' " she said.

That said, she admitted it would be nice to ski.

Not everyone unhappy

The only people who seem to be happy about the weather are runners, who have been hitting the trails with their studded running shoes.

"This weekend it was great; the Turnagain Arm trail, there's dirt on it, hardly any ice," said Jerry Ross, manager at Skinny Raven Sports. "I know a lot of skiers are pretty bummed, but we're going to see a lot of fast runners in the spring."

Nordlund recommended swimming laps, hiking or ice fishing. Personally, she's partial to another cure for Alaska winter doldrums.

"I'm going to Hawaii," she said.