Williwaw

After four days, I finally figured out my preferred commute route from my sublet to my office. on my drive, I pass Baxter Bog, where I walk Tok each morning, a beautiful pond surrounded by golden birch trees, and an elementary school with a distinctly Alaskan name: Williwaw Elementary.

In Kodiak, we experience hurricane-like storms that would have actual, assigned names from the National Weather Systems. Instead, we tough Kodiakians call them rain storms. Wind rages from 30-70 mph as huge gusts cut between mountain ranges and over to our nook of houses nestled on the northeast corner of the isle.

A week after I left, as if on cue that summer was over, the day after Labor Day, a helluva storm stranded Kodiakians for three days. Winds of 50 mph and over an inch of rain accumulated each day. Whereas no flights arrived or left the island, business progressed as usual: children went to school, parents went to work, and Coasties deployed to save lives.

"A williwaw is a sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea. The williwaw results from the descent of cold, dense air from the snow and ice fields of coastal mountains in high latitudes, accelerated by the force of gravity."
Source: Good ol' wikipedia