We’ve had strong winds in town the last few days, but it’s really been blowing out on the delta – a mixture of dust and snow that we’re able to see from space:
MODIS Terra image of the Copper River Delta, Dec. 1 2010 11:46 AKST
We were even able to see dust on the lens of the Middleton Island webcam. We’re excited about that because we’re going to be installing a dust collector on Middleton next year to study the chemical composition of the dust, to see how important it is for fertilizing the Gulf of Alaska (biological production in the GoA is limited by iron, and that dust has a lot of iron in it). We’re also interested to learn that that dust transport events can happen even after some precipitation like that. We experimented with lots of terms for a dust/snow mix (dunow? snodu? stow? dusnow?), but snust seems to be the most popular.
Thanks for the article and image Rob. I do think the term “Snust” is appropriate, although the computer dictionary will have nothing to do wit it!
Allen
Rob,
Good Stuff. This really promotes PWSSC.
John
That is an awesome photo from space! So did ya all hear about the arsenic eating bacteria from Mono Lake? I wonder what weird and wonderful microbes are still hidden up there in Alaska! I love the smell of Snust in the morning!
Fascinating picture! Thanks you for the information also.
During the 2008 wind/dust event Claude B. and I went ice skating at Sheridan Glacier. Came home with dull skates and grit in my teeth. I’d love to do it again.
Snust? No way. It is hard to say in quick succession– try it. How are we expecting this word to evolve? “I am completely snusted today. But no one gives a snust. When the snust gets tough, the tough get snusted. People could wear snusters on their heads and wear sweat shirts proclaiming NO SNUST. They might even name their kitties and pups “Snust Ball” and Snustaffian. Eventually people would walk down the street and offer the casual greeting “Snust-up, man.” I don’t think snow and dust are ready to mix on a molecular level, that’s post-apocalyptic. But the word does have a Middle Earth appeal. I am sure I am not the only Hobbit who has had an occassional occluded nostril obstructed by snust-like objects. So there you have it. There isn’t an alternative to make an ugly word any prettier. I like snowst (rhymes with toast) better but prefer the linguistic parsimony of calling it what it is; mixed snow and dust. Snain has already been tried unsuccessfully, rain and fog, rog? Wind and snow, winnow . . . sleet and fog, fleet, slog? Ahhhh, the complexity of shorthand.