I hope everyone is keeping up with race coverage.   What an exciting time it is.  I sure wish I was there but I couldn’t get away from my studies this year.  Zuma, Libby, and Sanka will keep you up to date on all the happenings from Alaska.  Since I had to stay home this year and work on my assignments, I will answer some of your questions and help you understand the race a little better.  I will be doing short posts on all sorts of topics.  If you have a question that you can’t find the answer to, just send me a comment on the blog and I will try to help you find the answer.

I have had a lot of questions about weather so I thought I’d try to explain it.  Weather doesn’t always follow rules and is very unpredictable.  Weather does affect the race.  It affects the trail conditions, and how fast teams can travel.  Since the mushers can get spread out along the trail, a blizzard in one area, may affect some of the mushers but will be over when the next set of mushers get to that area.  Also if weather conditions are warm, you’ll see teams traveling more at night when it’s cooler.

You can get up-to-date weather information by going to www.iditarod.com and clicking on check weather.  This will give you weather reports along the trail.  Remember that weather can change quickly so check back often as your favorite musher progresses along the trail.  Also watch what the mushers are doing and what the weather is.  See if you can figure out how the weather is affecting the race this year.

Have fun following the race,

Gypsy