Here we go again with more yo-yo weather. One day it’s minus 22, the next day it’s 40 with beautiful snow to ski and snowmobile on, and the next day, wet mush.
Just when we think we are going to have an old-fashioned winter it switches back to a January thaw—and now we’ve had three of them.
After this cold snap it looks like another one is on the way.
The problem with these extremes is that water runs most every time, and then there is a quick freeze when it goes below zero while this water is running.
I was just checking the little stream that runs through Eight Acre Wood. It is called an intermittent brook, which means it doesn’t run all the time, only when there is runoff from rain.
This morning, after some heavy rain, it’s running over the ice that formed with the last storm. With the quick freeze this is going to freeze up again.
When this happens it freezes the culvert full of ice.
Then when the next runoff comes there is no place for the water to go.
This always happened in the Moose River Plains as culverts in the dirt road would freeze during snowmobile season and wash out with the spring runoff.
I’ve only had that problem once in the 14 years we have lived here, but it’s shaping up to do it again this winter.
My granddaughter Rachel is traveling to Texas today (1/6) for a job interview. She called from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago as that is as far as she got.
She reported that it was so cold with the wind chill that the gas in the plane was freezing. That’s got to be a nice thing to hear as you are boarding a plane.
How many of us have been there and done that before? I never heard that excuse and I don’t think I would like to.
I think there are a lot of travelers who are not making it to where they want to go today as snow, cold temperatures, and wind will be bringing travel to a halt.
We are lucky in this area as there is only one main road to plow, which normally gets you from point A to point B without much problem.
We went to the Knotty Pine in Old Forge for dinner on New Year’s Eve. When we went out to our car after an hour we found that a foot of snow had fallen.
The trip there was no picnic so we just waited until the road was plowed and made it home fine. There was less snow up this way, and Raquette Lake had only a couple inches.
There have been twenty mallards going between Bottle Brook on the Inlet Golf Course and the Inlet Channel every day. I hope they hold out until duck count in a couple weeks.
There have to be lots of springs in Bottle Brook as it hardly ever completely freezes over.
Last week I saw where a snowshoe hare took a running jump to cross the open brook, landed short, and had to swim a little before getting out on the other bank.
Nature’s critters have a tough time coping with these changing weather conditions. When we get wet we come inside and dry off while they have to use energy to thaw off the wet or snow that falls on them.
We just go to the fridgerator and get a snack while they have to plan where their next meal is coming from. When the snow cover freezes it makes it harder for them to dig down and find some food under the snow.
Some, such as grouse, have adapted to eat the buds and catkins off the birch trees.
They also burrow into the fluffy snow to conserve energy, as do some of the songbirds. When the snow is crusted they have to sit out in the cold and just fluff up.
All of these changes in weather patterns also put a stress on other wildlife. The little things that we hardy ever see, such as voles and mice, usually travel under the snow cover.
When it’s wet like this they have to get on top of the snow to travel from place to place. This, of course, makes the owls and hawks happy as they have easy pickings.
Maybe that’s why all the snowy owls have come south. They knew what the weather was going to be down here before the National Weather service knew.
They did it without satellites and radar and two months ahead of schedule. I heard a report of a snowy owl that went to Bermuda. Now that’s planning ahead.
Reports of little ground tremors, but that’s another story.
See ya.