Tag Archives: snow drifts

Snow Phenomenon

Below you can see the unique snow phenomenon that Jack saw on the Dalton when he came over the top of Gobbler’s Knob a few weeks ago. The first video shows him seeing it and the low sun casting alpenglow into his cab. The second is a compilation of clips of it with real audio of he and another driver discussing it and other things. The third (at double speed) is coming up and under it and the blowing snow on the road. And the fourth is later that day, just a beautiful drive going south at 4x speed.

Jack believes the snow phenomenon was a localized wind storm that kicked up snow into what looked like a cloud or even a mountain from far away. It was a windy day overall.

White out & truck off the road

At some point every year white out conditions occur on the Dalton where you can see barely 20 feet in front of you.  Here are some photos from last year.  Someone went off the road and laid their truck over on its side.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

A normal winter day on the Dalton

Not a calm winter day, but a normal winter day.  These were from last year, and actually the first three are from early April and the rest are from one day in mid-April 2016.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right for best viewing.

Snow Drifts on the Dalton

There’s been plenty of wind and snow on the Dalton lately.  Here are snow drifts at Ice Cut that have been plowed away by a loader, creating one lane which is better than nothing!  Video by fellow trucker, John Slater.  Hope everyone is having a great 2017 so far.

Snow-filled engine compartment

Jack snapped these shots after going through numerous snow drifts before he got into Prudhoe Bay.  The engine is operating fine and he didn’t need to do anything, but it’s interesting to see how the snow gets into all the available spaces.  The keypad looking thing is actually the air intake for the cab and the vent above it is the intake for the motor.  Even though the engine is 200 degrees plus it’s still not enough to melt the snow at these temperatures, about 20 or 30 below.

The engine after going through snow drifts

Snow filled engine