A few stray snowflakes fell this morning so not enough new snow for ski lovers and even though there has been a few colder days, open water still exists in front of the ice caves on Lake Superior so no strolling by the frozen world this year yet.
Strolling by the Frozen Caves
The new month is starting out colder but it will take a string of cold days to create ice thick enough to walk on to view the ice caves like last year and to catch the golden glow of the setting sun.
A Golden Ice Cave
The warmer temperature the past week has felt nice after a cold December, but hardy winter lovers may not be as thrilled as the snow pack is shrinking. The ice layer on Lake Superior by the ice caves has also disappeared even though there was ice last week when the park rangers were out on the ice monitoring the thickness but last weekend’s winds blew and took the ice away. So now there is open water by the caves where last season 138,000 people walked on the ice to view the ice formations.
Admiring the Ice Formations
The temperature for yesterday’s Thanksgiving was the coldest since 1930. I sure would have rather be looking at the ice caves yesterday if it was going to be that cold instead of snowing snow in the very chilly air.
Icy Waterfall
Yesterday the ice broke up and quickly disappeared by the ice caves on Lake Superior near Cornucopia, Wisconsin. Last month people were still visiting the ice caves, walking on the frozen surface of Lake Superior and two months I had brave the cold weather to visit them too. I am glad I wasn’t on the ice when it broke up as the creaking and cracking was spooky enough when I taking pictures.
Click here to view the ice break from the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. (Click on the Next button to cycle through the ice break up pictures.) The webcam shot is looking out the opposite direction as the image below, so the cliff in the back on the left, is the same cliff on the right in the image below looking towards the webcam.
Frozen World
Mother nature provided an April’s Fool joke this morning. Daffodils and other early bulb flowers should be displaying bright colors but instead the trees are rattling with a new layer of ice and the gusty winds are blowing snowflakes around.
So for all the people who keep telling me spring is coming, the joke is on us as winter has latched on with mighty grips and is not letting go.
Nature’s Joke
Another month is ending and I haven’t decided if March is going out like a lion or a lamb. It definitely came in like a lion but today it is actually warm enough for rain at the moment so could be a lamb. But the ground is still buried under snow and the rain is supposed to switch to snow later tonight so doesn’t seem to lamb like to me. And some areas are being impacted with a blizzard so March is going out for a lion for them.
End of March
I’m glad the predicted sleet and freezing rain missed my area since I don’t like ice unless it is used to cool a drink on a hot summer day like a snow cone or when ice is creating unique formations in ice caves. There is beauty in the ice caves but not when ice is coating the roads or my sidewalk.
Narrow Icy Cave
I imagine there will be a large number of visitors at the Lake Superior ice caves this weekend since it is the last weekend they will be open this year as the ice is thinning and the ice formations are beginning to fall. Soon these big ice chunks will melt and will become part of Lake Superior waves that will etch out more sea caves.
Icy Falls
All good things must come to an end. The Lake Superior ice caves will close after Sunday or sooner if the ice condition deteriorate rapidly this week. Nature provided a spectacular show this cold winter and it may not return in the upcoming years since it was five years since the last time the ice was stable to walk on to see. But while the ice caves will return to sea caves as the ice melts, nature will create another glorious show as wildflowers will add color to the landscape once all the snow is melted.
The End of Nature’s Ice Show
