We've been hearing the winter storm warnings since Sunday. Major blizzard to hit Tuesday afternoon, starting as rain and ending up with 1"-5" of snow by mid-morning Wednesday.

Was thinking I might get to sleep in today.

But Tuesday was beautiful. Clear sky, warm, and no wind. Which we would have to have if we were going to get any arctic air. When I re-installed the spare tire around 18:00, I checked the temp.

65^o.

It was still over 60^o when we got back from the youth group meeting (which we called off early, since only two showed up... soccer season is here). When the heelers got their last out of the night, there was a slight breeze.

Cold. From the north.

But when the heeler sisters and I left at 04:25 this morning, still no snow. No precip at all. Just lots of clouds, and bitter cold north wind. After we had been on the road for about 45 minutes, the wardens began to log in with dispatch.

Out doing their lek surveys which, other than for those of us with the desert, tend to be closer to home. Hence they get to sleep later. But I also got to hear everyone's weather comments. Light snow in the city to the west, heavy snow in towns just 50 miles north, and in the city northeast.

Dispatch said she was having snow in Capitol City. The cold just hadn't pushed up onto the divide yet. But I could see it. A wall of swirling clouds were burying Cyclone Rim, just 4-5 miles north of us, as we cruised west on the Red Creek Road.

Got to our first lek, just north of Bastard Butte, the same time as the snow. And not enough light to count grouse. They were there, running for cover (literally... fat black and white little birds waddling quickly off the bare lek into the sage in the draw between us), but by the time it was light enough to see, there were less than a dozen visible. And they didn't stick their heads up above the sage for very long.

But the heelers finally got their break while I waited, so they were happy.

Ground was white by the time we got to the Scotty Lake lek. No grouse. The strutting ground is on a low, open slope that faces north, into that cold wind, so who could blame them? Especially since there aren't many girls showing up anymore.

Ten cocks standing in the open at the next lek. But they flew off within minutes of our arrival.

I could see one of my favorite places, just a mile and a half away. A couple grey, conical shadows in swirling snow. By the time I got done writing my notes, the real blizzard was upon us.

Visibility dropped. The Honeycombs were gone, and I couldn't even see the lek anymore. And the sisters no longer thought it was fun to be outside.

Time to go.

Slow drive home, with visibility so poor. But by the time we passed Hadsell Crossing, we were out of it. Just cold north wind, lots of clouds and a skiff of snow.

The snow never did make it to town. And they're talking temps in the 50s tomorrow. Have no idea where we're going to go in the morning, but the alarm is set.

Guess we'll decide when we get up.