In Tucson we enjoy a frozen fruit slush called an Eegee. If you eat one too quickly you can get a headache called a "brain freeze". Today I found out that you can get a brain freeze from the outside in. It was grey, overcast and windy today. You couldn't see very far on the horizon, and the snow was blowing around. Before I went outside to sample snow, I bundled up my head. I wore a balaclava, neck gaiter, wool hat, sweatshirt hood and then a parka hood. It still seemed that when the wind cut in anywhere near my head, I would get a brain freeze.
Betsy Wilkening sampling snow on a grey windy day near BARC.
When I spoke with my daughter today, she was miserable in Tucson. The wind had picked up there and the blowing dust wreaked havoc on her allergies. I still think I would have rather had the blowing dust, just because I am used to it. I quickly learned why the snow is moved away from the plowed roads. If it is not, the wind will redistribute it all over the road. This happened with our path out to the snow field. I can really appreciate all of the hard work that the scientists did on windy days in February and at the beginning of March.
Path to snow field disappeared after one windy day.