Alaska really? Where's the snow?

Even after twenty years in Homer, it's still strange to me that we can go for long periods without snow on the ground in the middle of 'winter'. Midland anywhere Lower 48 has more consistent snow that we do here on our Alaska coast, even though we're 2,000 air miles north of everywhere USA. Now that's just weird! And after our latest melt off, I'm still seeing green grass and even the occasional pansy pushing up and blooming. Didn't I move to the great Alaskan harsh frontier?

Yup! That green stuff you see? Grass. If you look toward the bottom left corner you can just see a tiny spot of snow remaining. And the shiny stuff on the deck? Water puddles. Because it's in the mid-30's today and yesterdays very 'warm' day of wetness near the 40's rained off all of our snow. Ah winter... for Homer anyway. So winter sports can be a little iffy here.

In all fairness there's a reason a lot of us faux-Alaskans settle in Homer. Before I moved here, my husband was even selling me on it as Alaska's 'banana belt'... the warm spot for AK winter weather. Being raised in New Mexico and California, I had only seen pictures of Alaska, and a few movies, and everything was always covered in snow... so a 'warmer' spot sounded good to me! And a lot of our winter visitors from further parts agree. Along with the great food, colorful people, great art, lively music, and other fun things, they come to enjoy a break from the harsher temps up north. So I shouldn't complain, but it does still seem a little strange. And without predictable snow sometimes we're not clear what season it is, except that the days are still definitely short.