Comments on: Ice Storm Both Deadly and Beautiful

By: John

John — Mon, 30 May 2011 02:33:02 +0000

The North East sure has been getting hit with a lot of ice the past few years. I live in a 2nd floor apartment and in addition to the nearby trees getting covered with ice a few times, this past winter we had some huge icicles. One of them outside my bedroom window reached almost all the way to the ground!

By: sandra

sandra — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:22:24 +0000

While a walk through a forest after an ice storm may give the impression of large-scale destruction amid crystalline beauty, an ice storm also provides several vital functions. The same mechanical action that downs branches also releases seeds, promotes regeneration, prunes dead or dying branches, and indirectly provides nesting and sleeping cavities for birds and other animals. Although ice storms are generally disliked by most of the population, they provide weather watchers with hours of entertainment as each additional look reveals new beauty. One of the most awesome sights I have ever witnessed was the ice-encrusted, mixed deciduous woods atop the Niagara Escarpment near Milton, Ontario back-lit by the setting sun. As the sun’s rays emerged from below the cloud base, the surrounding ebony cloud deck provided the perfect backdrop for the dazzling crystal ice clinging to the trees.

By: Dianne

Dianne — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:03:38 +0000

Here where I live, in Lake Elsinore, California, we would never see anything such as this. One year around Christmastime we woke up with snow in the hills behind our house, and everyone just freaked! It was on the news, and everything. All the gang-bangers were up there having snowball fights…. too funny….. now, if they could always be that docile, huh? It gets over 110 degrees here in the summer, though, and we have heat for 4-5 months out of the year. So, although I’m sure it was a nasty storm, you must like the weather a little at times, right? Now I have to visit New York. Never been there. We plan on going soon.

By: Romy @ Natural Gas Heaters

Romy @ Natural Gas Heaters — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:40:26 +0000

I never experienced an ice storm in my life, and, form what i see, I don;t think I would want one.

But, in the same time, I love extreme weather, and I think I would like to go through such an experience.

I liked the photo of the berry with ice on it..this tells me that you can see the positive part in something not so good, and that’s important.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:15:13 +0000

I live in Rochester NY so I’ve experienced a few ice storms. I’ve always looked at them in a negative light… don’t want to chip ice off of my car, hate having to walk and drive much slower, etc. Seeing that mulberry tree captured in ice is a really beautiful ice storm moment. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

By: WarAxe

WarAxe — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:21:48 +0000

@Paul
Absolutely… the only way to capture stars is in the absence of all competing light. That’s why big telescopes are located away from cities and up on mountains to better cut through the atmosphere.

They even lift telescopes up on massive balloons near the arctic to get super-precise pictures.

@European Toxic Clan
Thank you for your kind words. I”m hoping to post a better (slightly post-processed) version of the berries shortly.

By: European Toxic Clan

European Toxic Clan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:59:44 +0000

Your photography talent is truly inspiring, im sure that you could make a comfortable living as a professional photographer, just like your “winter-chill-wallpaper” those images scream brass monkeys at me.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:28:11 +0000

That berry photo is beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Out of interest, were you able to see the stars a lot better when all the lights were out?

By: WarAxe

WarAxe — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:36:16 +0000

@gladi8or-666
Cool… the icicle from hell!

@T.J. Mock
You should see some of the conditions we drive in up here. There are lots of stores with lots of sales and ain’t no snow (even a foot) will stop these people. I grew up in Buffalo where the snow was actually much worse than Albany.

@Dara
You southern-folk should get the pleasure of driving up here in Winter some time. Three-lane expressways usually go to a more “free-form” lane system (because you can’t see the road at all, let alone lane striping)… mostly people just use two “mental” lanes, with the occasional idiot trying to pass multiple people in their big SUV — only to end up off the road about mile further.

@John3Sobieski
Your brother’s at the Naval Academy? Cool.

Yeah, the snowblower is a MUST have item for anyone with a non-trivial driveway. MY driveway is 150 feet long, so there’s no practical way to shovel, period.

@Heather
Aaahhh… the conversation that pops up once the computers are off. I was stuck (with 5 others) waiting for our Chinese food! Can you believe it? And they weren’t letting anybody on site once they closed it so we had to “hike” to the West gate to meet up with our delivery guy. Oh well… seeing as how once I got home there was no way to make myself hot food I appreciated waiting for my beloved beef with broccoli.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:30:36 +0000

I talked over some ideas with the guys at work for the next time power goes out… i now have a concept to heat my apartment from my gas powered hot water heater that involves turning a garden hose into a heat exchanger.

Can you tell i’m an enginerd?

By: John3Sobieski

John3Sobieski — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:53:27 +0000

I love winter. Tonight and into tomorrow, southeast Michigan is supposed to get 7-10 inches of snow, meaning no school.

Also, we have a pond in the back yard purpose-dug for playing hockey on, so we have a good time when it freezes over. Everyone in my family knows how to skate. Having to clear the snow off can be a bummer, but it’s a lot easier since we bought a snow blower a few years ago.

The only real bad thing I can think of about the snow we’re getting here in Michigan is that my brother is supposed to be flying in on leave from the Naval Academy in Annapolis. It wouldn’t be good if he had to land in bad conditions, or if my parents had to drive him home on slick roads.

By: Dara

Dara — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:17:48 +0000

Wow, those photos are beautiful! Living here in southern Florida, it just seems to foreign to me to see snow and ice. Here it’s about 80 degrees at the moment — I broke a sweat working outside earlier.

By: TJ Mock

TJ Mock — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:08:59 +0000

No pun intended….

By: T.J. Mock

T.J. Mock — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:58:28 +0000

Ice storms are so cool…..

being from Georgia we get them maybe once a year (i’ve seen snow like 3 times in my entire life, not counting a ski-trip to west virginia)

its funny that you said driving to work…..if we get a heavy frost everything shuts down.

Its comic. Everybody stocks up on water and non-perishable food.

I don’t know what would happen if we ever got what some of you Yankies get.

By: gladi8or-666

gladi8or-666 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:09:52 +0000

cool! i wish i had that in my back yard, i get is a frozen pit of ice, 5 feet of snow, slush, and a huge ice spike hanging over the door, ring my door……..at your own risk! bwahahahahahaahhahahahaha!!!!!!( im NOT knockin’ that thing down either ha!!!!)

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:08:30 +0000

you have to many trees

By: Mookie M.

Mookie M. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:48:42 +0000

Yea I live in Long Island and for some reason, I dont see much snow this year…