Or is it Winter?!?!

Middle Tanana Valley TONIGHT...FREEZING RAIN. AREAS OF FOG. LOW 30-35. TUESDAY...FREEZING RAIN. HIGH 35. LOW 30-35. WEDNESDAY...FREEZING RAIN. HIGH 35. SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW 30. THANKSGIVING DAY...CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGH 30. LOW 10 ABOVE. FRIDAY...CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGH 15. LOW 5 BELOW. SATURDAY...CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGH ZERO. LOW 20 BELOW. SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGH 15 BELOW. LOW 20 BELOW. MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGH 15 BELOW.

What the crap? We get well over a foot of beautiful, fresh, dry powder snow that sets the tone for an amazing snow year and now it is raining. I actually was doing really well at getting out and enjoying the copious amounts of fluff that was being frequently refreshed and added to by almost daily snow showers. Rain for three days will destroy every bit of that incredible Utah-like powder, creating a big Slushie. Overflow on lakes and creeks, puddles in the roads, and an entire landscape covered in thick, hard snow/ice. Then let the temperatures dip to 20 below zero. Everything will be covered in ice, if any remains from the warm temps. I can't believe it. It might as well be early September again. And the worst part is it's not even confined to Interior Alaska - nearly the whole state is being rained on, with temps hovering around freezing or higher. This will destroy a great portion of our winter and create terrible snow conditions, especially in the mountains, where any fresh snow will be deposited on a hard, icy crust, making avalanches extremely prevalent. There goes any form of winter recreation for quite some time, especially since it's Fairbanks and our normal trend for snow is relatively bleak. One can only hope it will be redeposited, but everyone knows it doesn't snow below zero. And who knows when it will rise above that, if ever, before March.