Just a reminder: Cold Kills

As a reminder of the devastating effects cold can have on humans, we have this report about the latest cold spell in Europe:

Toll from Europe freeze tops 220

Temperatures plunged to new lows in Europe where a week-long cold snap has now claimed more than 220 lives and forecasters warned Friday that the big freeze would tighten its grip over the weekend.

A total of 223 people have died from the cold weather in the last seven days according to an AFP tally, with Ukraine suffering the heaviest toll.

In addition to the deaths, some...shall we say...interesting weather has occurred. For instance ice skates might become more useful than a gondola in Venice. And you might want to leave the toga home when you go to Rome.

In Italy, Venice's canals started freezing over and even Rome was dusted in snow.
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Temperatures plunged to minus 35 Celsius in some areas of Poland.

In Bulgaria parts of the River Danube froze over

Snow Falls in Rome as Italy Is Hit by Cold Snap

A rare snowfall blanketed Rome on Friday, forcing the closure of the Colosseum over fears tourists would slip on the icy ruins, and leaving buses struggling to climb the city's slushy hills. Other parts of the country experienced frigid temperatures unseen in years.

Authorities stopped visitors from entering the Colosseum, the adjacent Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, the former home of Rome's ancient emperors, although those already inside the ruins before thick flakes began coming down in late morning were allowed to finish their visits. The director of the ancient arena, Rossella Rea, said there was concern visitors could fall on ice.

The last substantial snowfall in Rome occurred in 1986, though lighter snowfalls have occasionally and briefly blanketed the city since, including in 2010.

Then there's the heating problem in the city...

Since the capital infrequently sees freezing temperatures, heating in homes is only allowed by law for about 10 hours a day, to cut down on pollution. The cold snap, with temperatures hovering at or just below the freezing point, meant Romans shivered in their homes, many with tile and marble floors.

The cold in Poland has halted the annual swim, too.

Deep freeze hits Poland's hardy lake swimmers

"In the interests of our participants' security, we've decided to call off this year's Bath of the Brave," Ireneusz Dzienisiewicz told Poland's PAP news agency.
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But temperatures in northern Poland have plunged to minus 30 Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), far below the minus 15 Celsius experienced by swimmers in 2010 during the coldest ever edition of the event.

On top of the risks to the swimmers, there were also practical reasons for cancelling the event.

"The water freezes so fast that we wouldn't be able to keep a large enough hole in the ice," said Dzienisiewicz.

Ho-hum. Nothing new here

Seems ever year we get a report of something like this:
18-Mile Crack Seen by NASA in Antarctic Glacier

In the next few months, scientists expect the glacier to create an iceberg about 350 square miles in area. It will probably float northward, melting as it goes.

And at about this time of year, too. Problem is, the glaciers push out onto the sea, become unsupported from below and crack. Do they then float off as the article suggests? Sometimes. But just as often they refreeze when the Antarctic winter reappears. Which happens to be right around the corner.

ps Don't believe the tag line at the end of the article that says both poles are losing ice. Aint' happening.

Ice Sculpture

This is not just the time of year for sled dog races, it's also the time of the annual ice carving display in Fairbank's Ice Park. Elaine at Arctic View has been covering the show and has posted some great shots of the artists' work on her blog. You can see some of it here and here. Previous years' works can be found at this link if you scroll and scroll and scroll some more.

The work is really amazing. And, of course, some of it is saved in the Ice Museum in Fairbanks so even if you can't get there until summer time, you can still enjoy it. (Just remember to bring a coat. The building is quite cold inside!)

WTF?

(And I do Not Mean "Winning the Future!")

Got the driveway and parking area cleared after three plus hours of snow throwing and shoveling. I was soaked when I finished but that was due to perspiration and not having snow whisked back at me as I worked. The breeze actually cooperated and fell to near zero mph at ground level. Way up above was a different story as the wind hurried clouds out of the southwest at very high speeds.

Temperatures on the deck got to 37 degrees while I worked and water dripped from every branch that had received a coating of ice during the night. The sun came out (briefly) to melt the ice off the Tundra. All was looking good!

Then at 2 PM everything went dark. Heavy clouds appeared over the mountain and they bore wet snow and ice pellets that rattled off the windows as the wind whipped them along parallel to the ground. It looked ominous!

This forced me to look at the radar. Sure enough, the storm is hardly over. It's just lingering to the west and streaming up from Missouri and the Ohio River valley. The Weather.com forecast says it won't amount to more than half an inch but the temperatures are falling. Down three degrees in the last half hour.

I don't know if it's just me or what, but the sound of sleet/freezing rain pelting against the window panes produces a chill down my spine similar to that others feel from fingernails on the chalk board. (That never bothered me, much to the displeasure of my students!) And it doesn't matter what the temperature is outside or in.

******

Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow this morning. (To which I say, "DUH!" It was snowing in Punxsutawney this morning. I'd feel better about that "early spring" forecast if Phil were correct more than 39% of the time. (That's his actual record, BTW. Just 39%. Might be pretty good if he were a major league hitter, but as a prognosticator? Thirty-nine percent stinks!)

******

We're still awaiting a delivery of propane. The tank was down to 30% when I checked last Thursday and our service provider said the slip had been printed and we should get a delivery this week. It's gonna be a costly one!

Oh well, guess I'll be building another fire this afternoon/evening.

Na na, na na na...

Missed us!

We didn't get the multiple inches of snow forecasters said were heading our way. That slid to our north some. Instead we got a light coating of stinking ICE. The squirrels are okay with that. They can now run over the snow without sinking in over their heads.

Me? I'd rather have the snow. It's much easier to blow/shovel snow than it is the ice encrusted stuff we have now. Oh, I'll break out the snow thrower anyway as it will be easier than the shovel, but I'll probably have to go back over the driveway with the shovel when I get through. *sigh*

The stiff breeze (can't really call it "wind") will make throwing snow an adventure. I'll probably look like the Michelin Man/Frosty the Snowman/Stay Puff Marshmallow Man when I get done.

The temperature is currently hovering around 31 degrees but that breeze makes it feel lots colder than the 16 degrees we had when I was outside last evening.

Luckily, the ice was not as thick as points elsewhere. I can see a coating on wires and branches but not enough to bring 'em down.

You can probably walk from Germany to Sweden over the Baltic Sea right now.

A number of years ago, Terry and I went to Nantucket Island with a teaching buddy of mine, Tom, and his wife. We took his car out on the ferry and stayed at a B & B that was a short walk from the center of town. He and I went birding along the coast while the ladies went to town and peeked in the store windows. A good time was had by all and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It was a cold, cold winter and there was lots of snow on land and ice in the water. Looking down from the lighthouse on the Atlantic side we could see ice floes with seals on them heading south. Tom got all concerned that if the harbor on either the mainland or the island froze up, we could be stuck for longer than we wanted to be. That didn't happen (dammit!) largely because the Coast Guard ice breaker in the area wouldn't let it and because the frequent movement of the ferries back and forth prevented the ice from getting too thick between trips.

I mention this story because of what's happened in the Baltic Sea:

50 ships stuck in Baltic thick ice

STOCKHOLM, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish Maritime Administration said on Thursday that about 50 vessels are stuck in the thick ice in the Baltic sea off Sweden's east coast.

Among the vessels, there are six large passenger ferries which are in total carrying more than 2,000 passengers, the administration said in a statement.

Two of the ferries, including the large Isabella passenger ferry carrying 1,322 passengers and crew, have been freed.

Four other vessels, including the Amorella, another passenger ferry with 753 passengers and 190 crew members aboard, are still stuck.

I don't imagine there's much in the way of provisions on these ferries. Those who board are not expecting more than a cruise of a few hours, not days. Should they have to remain where they are much longer, I'm sure either food drops will have to be made or evacuation via helicopter and/or hovercraft will occur.

How is this possible in these days of AGW fear mongering? (Remember, the Arctic Ocean is supposed to be experiencing record low ice levels according to the computer models. In fact, the ice extent has increased every year since 2007.)

Sweden has suffered an unusually harsh winter this year, with temperatures across the country almost continuously lying well below freezing since December.

Where's Denmark again? Oh yeah, it's on the northern shores of the Baltic Sea just to the west of Sweden.

I'm betting right about now the folks in Copenhagen are wishing they had never heard of the IPCC and Al Gore.

Speaking of driving in the snow/ice.

Don't be afraid of the former but do be cautious. Don't travel in the latter if you can help it.

If you must travel on ice, wait for a salt/cinder spreader and latch on to it's tail like a remora on a shark. Just be sure to stay far enough back that the particles the truck is spreading hit the road in front of you and not your windshield. You can spot the vehicles of people who have tried this but misjudged their distance. The crack all across the windshield sorta gives it away. By May large numbers of vehicles from certain northern and mostly rural states sport this indicator of the combination of snow/ice/cinder/gravel.

Actually, get some studded tires and you can do pretty well on the ice. They used to run auto races on an oval track on Lake Placid in the '60s using specially studded tires.

If driving in the snow remember one thing: Never, EVER pass the snow plow if his blade is on the road. Even if the plow is going only 20 mph in a 55 mph zone. It's there for a reason and if you peek to the right of the plow you'll probably see the snow/ice/slush shooting off in a lovely curl reminiscent of those from the Maverick's surfing competition off Half Moon Bay.

Remember, too, that the brake peddle is your enemy and so is your accelerator when the roads are snow covered. Keep your foot off the brake as much as possible and if you must use it do so slowly and well in advance of where you want/need to stop. If you are IN a curve, do not use your brake. You will likely go off the edge of the curve if it is slippery as your vehicle will slide in a straight line. If you feel you're going too fast for an approaching curve, slow down using a light touch on the brake--pretend there's a raw egg between your foot and the peddle--or gravity/friction (take your foot off the gas, dummy!). Once in the curve, your accelerator can be used (again, lightly as in egg-and-peddle) to get out of the curve. This works best with front-wheel and four-wheel drive vehicles where you get pulled instead of pushed.

If your vehicle is a rear-wheel, two-wheel drive and the snow is piled up on the road way, park it in your yard, make some hot chocolate and sit in front of the fire. Okay, maybe you can't do that because you have to get home from work/school/play. Use caution as detailed above.

And if you've got an automatic transmission put it into a fixed gear (those are the numbers on the console next to the "D" and "R") or into low (that's the "L"). This is especially true when going up hill. When going up hill you want to maintain a constant velocity--not necessarily a fast one, but constant. If your auto transmission starts to shift on you when you're part way up the slope, it's going to screw up that constant part of your velocity just the tiniest bit and quite possibly cause you to lose traction and set you to spinning your wheels.

If the worst happens and you start to skid, remember that you want to steer into the skid. That is, if the rear end decides to head to the right, you steer to the right. If it heads to the left, you steer to the left. The idea is to keep the front of your vehicle--well--in front! This will allow you to maintain some control as you leave your intended path. Steer the opposite way and at best you'll set your self up to roll onto your side although more than likely you're going to be doing a 360 or worse. And be sure to keep your feet off the brake and off the accelerator! Let friction and gravity do the work until the skid stops. THEN you can lightly press the accelerator or brake as needed to get control of your vehicle.

When I was a kid, my Dad took me out driving on immediately after the first snow storm and showed me how to handle the family car under these conditions. We used the wide open spaces of the school parking lot. An acre or more of black top without concrete curb or grassy barrier between rows. The best words I heard that day were, "Okay, now put her into a skid!" I don't think you can do that sort of thing today. I know my son got a ticket at 12:30 AM for driving in a figure 8 in a vacant mall parking lot back in '00.

Ice on the Great Lakes

I was watching the football games yesterday and switching channels during the commercials. I happened to land on the Weather Channel (or maybe it was the local news) between games and heard someone say that Lake Erie was essentially frozen over.

Well, I wanted to see what they meant by essentially frozen over so I did a quick Google search of ”Great Lakes ice cover” and found this NOAA site.

By clicking on either Lakes Erie, Ontario or Huron you get access to recent maps of the eastern Great Lakes. Lakes Superior or Michigan will get you to the western Lakes. There are even maps of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. (Although the Bays haven’t much ice and Delaware hasn’t had any, apparently, since February of 2007.)

The maps are huge in size but load quickly. You’ll have to scroll around to see the different parts of the lakes.

Lake Erie on January 16, 2009:

The red areas are 9/10 ice. Blue areas are 1/10 ice.

Grey areas are fast ice (100% rock hard).

Lake Ontario on January 16, 2009:

Blue is only 1/10 ice. White is open water.

A couple of thoughts come to mind after looking at the ice coverage on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario:

1- Folks on the shores of Lake Erie are undoubtedly hoping the ice remains in place so as to stop the lake effect snows that have plagued them in the recent past.

2- Folks living on the eastern end of Lake Ontario (Helloooo, Watertown, Mannsville, Polaski, Oswego, etc.) are probably praying that the damn lake will freeze! Steady winds out of the west will be settling in for this week and that means snow, snow, snow!


One more item...

Does anyone else find it ironic that, up on the northern edge of Lake Huron, this place is frozen solid?

Gore Bay is "fast ice" = 100% solid.

Welcome tothe Aerie's Bobsled Run!

Thursday is garbage pick-up day at the Aerie and after having two holidays fall on Thursday the last two weeks--and missing the announcement as to which day our pick-up was moved--we had a couple of bags that had to go out to the street this morning.

I opened the garage door and took a step outside and nearly ended up on my a$$ heading down the hill. The entire driveway from garage door to street was a sheet of ice that would have made Hans Brinker green with envy. I made my way out to and back from the street in a very, very careful manner that required stomping my heels in to the ice caked 1/2 inch of snow and looking for any protruding lump of gravel that would stop any downward slide--maybe. Then I got out my spade to act as an ice chopper (very futile act) and scattered 50-75 pounds of rock salt on the drive. You could hear the ice start to break up from the salt but at 27 degrees under a very cloudy sky the use of salt was also a futile action. (Although, it did loosen the ice enough that driving the Tundra--apt name, that--back and forth a bit broken it up, exposed the gravel underneath and produced ridges across the slope that just may provide some stopping power during the next luge event.)

The sun threatened to come out and even peeked from behind the clouds for a few minutes around 1 PM but that didn't last long. Forget about sun spots or the lack thereof, I'd be happy to spot the sun for a couple of days running.

As I write this at 4:30 PM it is snowing like crazy and all the salt I spread on the driveway will be for naught if we get a couple of inches of snow. And that's what the revised forecast from Accu-Hunch is calling for tonight. And tomorrow. And the day after that. (Actually, they are just calling for a "chance" of 1-2 inches each day through Sunday with the high temperatures remaining in the upper 20s. But I'm an optimist(?) and believe they just may be correct--once in a while.

UPDATE: By 5 PM the snow had stopped. The sky directly overhead was clear. The sun (which had already set) was back lighting the clouds to the west. Still, the temperatures were dropping swiftly as to be expected with clear skies and snow/ice ground cover and the sun setting.

I've been parolled! Not house bound any more.

Terry and I got a call yesterday (Friday) morning that the Tundra was ready for pickup at the body shop. Of course, with the ice/freezing rain that fell much of Friday morning I had to tell the mechanic not to wait up for me, rather I would pick the truck up this (Saturday) morning.

Well, we got up early and waited for the town truck to go past spreading cinders. No sign of him by 8:00 AM...or 9:00 AM...or 9:30 AM. I had spread ice melt on the driveway so we could get out in Terry's little Aveo. And I was pretty sure we could drive down the hill in relative safety. I just wasn't sure Terry could get her little front-wheel drive vehicle back into the driveway. But I wanted my truck, damn it! So off we went.

The hill was indeed icy and there was a definite lack of cinders on it when we left. Once on the main roads, however, things were pretty good--not great, as there were some places where ice was still present and where melt water had refrozen, but good. We made the trip to the body shop without any hassle and managed to pick up the Tundra. We each went our separate ways after agreeing to meet back at the post office in town before tackling The Hill up to the Aerie.

I went to Agway and got 150 pounds of rock salt while she went to the store to get some cat liter and then to Papa V's for some pizza.

Shortly after 11:15 AM we met at the post office. I offered to let her drive the truck and its 4-wheel drive up The Hill but she declined saying it was too big for her and did I really want her first time behind the wheel to be on the icy road. Both were valid points. If she wasn't going to be comfortable driving the Tundra, I wasn't going to be comfortable letting her. I did allow her to take the lead going up The Hill.

When we left the paved road, we were both pleased to see there were far more cinders on the road that there had been when we came down two hours earlier. Yes, the Cinder Fairies had returned with a full truck load and spread all of it on The Hill leading up to our driveway. Sure, there was still some packed ice under those cinders, but you could not see it and, as long as your foot was steady and you didn't try to punch the gas pedal, your car's tires didn't know the ice was there either.

When we got home, we sat and enjoyed a little laugh about the way we both felt relieved to see the black cindered road. Better than any Yellow Brick Road, for sure. We ate our pizza and then I went out and spread some salt on the driveway where there was a little more ice than I cared to see. The sun never did come out like the weather dudes promised and the temperatures stayed right around 28-29 degrees so not much melting took place, but there's always tomorrow.