Skywatch Friday: Blue Sky, Snow Squalls

The weather has been crazy thus far this winter with many days in the 40s deg F, about 15 degrees above our average. But then we'll have a cold snap, like this 0 deg F weekend morning with Mrs Rover, MollyTheDog and I on our habitual walk along the hill behind our home in Walkerville, Montana (I like the occasional excuse to don that boilerplate-heavy Woolrich coat I've had for 30+ years!):

The bright sun quickly reclaimed the frost laid down by the night air, and the shadow of a fence provides only fleeting protection as the sun arcs across the morning sky:

A full moon rising over the East Ridge of the Continental Divide called us out for a moonlight ski:

The following day our clear skies turned gray, and you could feel the coming change in the weather (skies seen here with a scenic outhouse at a nearby abandoned mine site):

Sure enough, snow squalls moved across the valley, and in minutes bright sun and clear blue sky could turn to stormy dark:

Here's a photo of another squall moving up the valley behind the Anaconda Smelter stack:

During a ski tour along trails near the Continental Divide at Mill Creek Pass, MollyTheDog and I were caught in a squall that dropped several inches of snow in just an hour. We ducked into the thick cover of some Douglass fir trees for a snack before heading back down the trails:

On a night when we aren't skiing by the light of the moon, we dropped by "Sparky's Garage"--a restaurant decorated with automotive memorabilia.  I like the "Kendall" signs because I once worked at that oil refinery back in my hometown of Bradford, Pennsylvania:

Live music is another way to fill the long winter nights. The Hummingbird Cafe recently hosted my professorial colleague and musician friend Chad Okrusch:

Along with Tom Catmull, a musician from the downriver town of Missoula:

Outdoors or in, there's never a lack of enjoyable activities here in Butte America.