Changing Ice in Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay, said to be the '6th Great Lake', freezes in part over the winter, as do all the Great Lakes.  This year the ice cover is extensive, for the 2nd year in a row.  But it's still intriguing how the ice behaves, and how it comes and goes along the shoreline.

It was a dark grey day when I was there about 2 weeks ago, and snowing steadily as you can see.  The gap between the park where I usually stop and the breakwall with the small light on it was decorated with lots of small ice floes and bits.

Georgian Bay was still open, but a lot of loose ice had been pushed in to the shore by the wind, none of it looking very solid!

I've shown this view west from the park several times, but never before with ice floes I don't think.  Compare this to the view in January (4th picture).

And here is the view a few days later, with Georgian Bay frozen solid as far as you can see.  I didn't climb over the 5 foot snowbank and trudge through the 2 foot deep snow to get exactly the same view!

I don't even remember noticing this cannon before (it should be pretty obvious!), but there it is guarding the harbour.

And here is that gap between the park and the breakwall a few days later, completely white.

The fact is that the entire sheet of ice on the bay shifts back and forth, sometimes bringing ice right to the shore, and sometimes leaving a band of open water, while the ice is pushed hard against the opposite shore.  This satellite view (with credit to the Weather Channel), shows Georgian Bay and much of Lake Huron almost completely covered in ice, but with a narrow band of dark open water partway through the bay where the ice sheet has broken as it shifts.

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Sunset in the East!

A few weeks ago (when it wasn't quite so cold!), I was walking the dog and noticed the beginning of a sunset - but it was in the east, not the west.  In the west the sun was setting in a cloudless sky, but in the east clouds were catching the descending rays of the sun.  At any rate, I hurried home to get my camera.

I only had time to stand in the backyard and take some pictures, as it was rapidly getting darker.  This is a view east from the house.

The sunset stayed with us for about 10 minutes before fading out.  Perhaps this isn't just a sunset, but the phenomenon of 'alpenglow', the sun lighting up something in the east as it sets.

And perhaps it's a little like the 'Belt of Venus', a pinkish glow a little above the eastern horizon as the sun sets in the west.  But I've often seen that, and it happens without any clouds in the sky at all.

It was more subtle than the brilliant sunsets we sometimes get in the west, but never-the-less, it was a beautiful pink 'eastern sunset'.  I don't think I've ever seen this so obviously before.

It was -29° (-20°F) this morning here, with a wind chill forecast of -35.  But then our son the pilot called to scoff at our cold temperatures, reminding me of when he flew cargo into isolated villages on the shores of Hudson's Bay, and the temperature would be -40°C, with a windchill of -60.  I guess it's all relative!

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Living Snow Fence

Along one concession of Grey Rd. 7, a living snow fence of Spruce trees was planted about 20 years ago.  Now it's grown and doing a good job of reducing drifting on a notoriously wintry stretch of this road.

 The Spruce trees extend about a mile north from Grey Rd. 40, on the west side of Grey Rd. 7.  It seems to be an area where the roadside snowbanks get bigger than anywhere else in my experience.  It was grey and frosty when I stopped for these pictures.

Just south of this point is the worst stretch of the road, with these permanent signs that can be turned on when conditions are just too dangerous.  The snowbank is only 2 or 3 feet higher than the car this year.  Did you know that if you drive on a road that is officially closed, your car insurance probably won't apply?


Here's a longer view of the living snow fence a little further north, placed well back on the west side of the road, trapping snow in drifts on the leeward (east) side before the blowing snow reaches the road.  In comparison to the stretches with huge snowbanks, the trees are working really well!

The deciduous trees along the side of the road were rather attractive with a covering of frost on this day too.

Just as a bonus, a couple of fences on another day that was much brighter and sunnier!

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Early Signs of Spring

In spite of the bitterly cold temperatures we've had the past few days, the seasons roll optimistically on.  Most plants and animals respond to length of daylight rather than temperature, and the days are definitely much longer than 6 weeks ago!

This is my most obvious measurable mark of the longer days, the sun rising further and further east each day.  If you check my post of Dec. 18th (the closest clear day to the solstice), you'll see the sun was rising to the west of those two taller Ash trees very close to each other.  Now it's rising just to the east of my Butternut tree, and moving quickly further east each day.  I see it from the same chair in the living room where I always sit with my morning coffee and read the morning's blogs.

And this is the other end of the day - same picture as yesterday, but taken at 6 p.m.!  Six weeks ago it would have been dark at 4.30.  Now it's still light out until 6, and I can walk the dog later and later, which makes a convenient difference to my day.

But there are other signs as the plants respond to the lengthening daylight.  These are the buds on one of the Silver Maples right outside our house.  I have no idea why they aren't killed off when the temperature hits -31 like it did yesterday, but they possess some magic that keeps them not only alive, but ready for spring.

And I was sure I saw a touch of yellow in the big Willow trees down on the river flats in the valley.  They'll be a good deal brighter yellow in a few weeks.

Likewise a strong touch of red in the Red Osier Dogwood over along the edge of the wetland, in front of this dead elm.  All in all, spring is sure to come.  And I'm sure we not only have longer days, but more sunny days in the latter half of winter.  Enjoy it while you can.

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It's Been COLD!

You know it's been really cold when you see the temperature has gone up to -15°C and you think 'My, this is so warm'!  It was -31°C this morning, and it did rise to -15 by mid-afternoon, and yes it felt 'warm' in comparison!  (That's from -24°F to 5°F).

I don't know when I've seen a temperature this cold, before you consider the windchill.  Last year was the year of excessive snow; this year is the year of excessive cold!  (Sorry, that 2nd shot is taken through a screen window, a bit blurry).

So this morning it was several shots through windows in the house, not going outside at all.  Shortly after sunrise, these were the shadows across the side yard.  Still about 2' of snow on the level.

Looking out the kitchen window to the east - through that gap in the trees is the 'valley'.

We even had a few small icicles hanging from the eavestrough, somewhat damaged from when the ice came crashing off the roof in January.

And the view through the living room window looking west.  Can I detect a little bit of pink cast across the snow by the rising sun?  All shots taken from indoors, but I'm going to run out of views fast!  Hope these temperatures don't last.

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A Barn or Three

I'm back to share some more barn pictures.  And I've suddenly got even more interested in rural architecture.  I heard a talk by a local heritage expert, and it was suggested that a collection of photos of rural buildings would be useful to the local museum - great!  A reason to keep taking such pictures.

An old traditional barn, but still in use to house cattle.  This was quite a distance across a field, and I caught it just as the sun turned the roof white.

This barn has definitely seen better days!  I'm afraid that this picture will end up being a 'before it disappeared' record.

This was a smaller barn, but I was struck by the cornfield that had not been harvested successfully before winter.  I'm told it will still have a fair value if harvested in the early spring.  Last year there was a late spring, and then not very much summer heat, leaving the corn struggling to ripen this far north.

I like this barn, right beside a road I sometimes drive down.  It has a newer gambrel roofed barn at the farm end, and two older bank barns at this end.  I think they create a protected space in between.

Some of the cattle or calves are often right behind the gate when I drive by.  Once I stopped, finding two calves outside the gate on the road.  A neighbour and I got them back into the farmyard, but no-one appeared to be home on the farm.

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Just checked the outdoor thermometer, which says -30°C (-22°F), and that's the actual temperature, without considering the wind chill.  The forecast is for -41 with the wind chill in the morning!  Don't think I've ever seen it actually that cold.

Ice and Frost

Somehow we had some freezing rain the other day, even though the temperature was -12°C  (10°F).  I don't know what atmospheric condition allowed that to happen, but obviously there was warmer air up above us.  Then the next night we had heavy frost.  The result was some beautiful icy frost on the trees.

I drove down one of my favourite sideroads where it would be safer to stop, with neat tree shadows crossing the road.

The canopy of trees was white against the blue sky.

Very cold, but just a beautiful sunny winter day.

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