Only patches of snow in Chickaloon and no snow at all further west.  Dry leaves on the ground as if it were September. We have had long stretches of cold weather, with only 5 days in November (after Nov 8th) and 5 days in December that started with mornings over 15F, 18 days in December starting at 6F or lower. Not "really cold", just longer stretches of cold. Very dry air; most days it is so dry there isn't enough moisture to see your breath. Unusually long stretches of clear nights - wonderful to see the bright stars, watch the moonlight track inside my yurt, occasional northern lights. Normally there are a lot more clouds. 

Such extremely low snow pack could mean a lot less groundwater recharge and snowmelt in spring. We need snow! No snow and such cold temperatures could also affect agriculture in the spring, not having a good insulating layer on the ground for so long.

We have had four multiple-day high wind events in December, with steady winds over 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph (estimated). Each event has lasted about four days. Between the cold and the wind, the land has dried out and there is very high fire danger.  

Fish Lake is scoured clean of any snow and has a thick, clear layer of ice.  Looking through it, the ice appears to be at least three feet thick.  People have been ice-skating on it.  I've been anxious to get out on the lake ice on my kicksled but with the cold temperatures and winds I've only been out once this month. The Matanuska River has lots of scoured-clean smooth-ice sections in Chickaloon.  The river is still holding to the south bank as it moves through Sutton so there are wide gravel bars between the Glenn Highway and water. Lots of dust during the windstorms.

An occasional moose.  Lots of birds at the feeder - boreal and black-headed chickadees, nuthatches, occasional pine grosbeak pair, Downy woodpecker.  The spruce grouse that arrives every winter is here picking up black-oil sunflower seeds. A round of cold is expected over the next few days with highs near 0F then, finally, temperatures are expected into the teens and we may get snow. If temperatures do rise, that would be the first time into the teens in a month.