This morning the weather changed from mostly clear skies with occasional puffy clouds that have been the norm for the last seven days. Today the wind started to blow early in the day and by about mid-afternoon the breeze had turned into a torrent, zinging by our trailer at around 55 knots. Considerable trailer wobbling was experienced. The spectacular cloud formations raced by our trailer.
The wind raised considerable dust here around Santa Fe such that our usual visibility was reduced from about 20 miles to about 1/2 a mile. The wind also ushered in a big front of dark gray clouds that initially only dropped rain but by about nightfall, the rain had turned to snow. The mountains that surround Santa Fe turned from green and gray to bright white as snow rapidly accumulated. There was a brief, stunning sunset before the sky went dark as snow closed out the views.
We lurked in the trailer all day because Capitol Ford called us this morning indicating our truck was nearing completion of its engine replacement and soon the cab would be reinstalled on the frame. The service manager indicated that they needed to drive the truck around before returning it in order to ascertain everything was okay before turning it over. They finally called about 4:30 PM to tell us the truck was ready. Our miserable Camry rental car we have used for the last week had a return limit of 4:00 PM without paying for another day so, considering the time, we elected to get our truck back tomorrow.
Weather reports for the local area indicated it will freeze tonight so I spent some time this afternoon draining our exterior water lines, regulators and filter and stowing them, choosing to use the heated on-board tanks for our domestic water requirements. I hate it when ambient temperatures freeze my outdoor equipment, bursting the hoses and filter container. No danger of that when they are indoors.
You can see some Santa Fe sky action if you click here