Sea Smoke
Most of this winter has been relatively mild, but come
January, especially the second half, it gets downright chilly! When the
temperature dips below zero (-17C) we get an interesting phenomenon happening
over Lake Superior. Sea smoke. The above freezing water and saturated air
above it turns to fog or steam when the very cold air causes it to condense. I
have been seeing this on the way to work most of this past week. Sometimes it
swirls into little tornado like columns and reaches up to the cloud formed
above it.
That cloud is about 100 feet or 30 meters above the surface.
Sometimes it has an other-worldly feeling to it. This morning we went out to
let out the horses when it was -22F
(-30C) with greater than a 10 to 15 mph (5-7m/s if we are going to do this)
wind to contend with. Not very comfortable, but we can dress for it.
Super Blood Wolf Moon
Another rare event is happening tonight. A total lunar
eclipse if you live in the Americas. Around midnight here there will be an
eclipse, where the earth comes between the sun and the moon. You basically get
all the sunrise/sunset light from all over which is what gives the moon its
reddish hue before it goes dark and when it comes back out of the shadow of
earth. The “supermoon” moniker is because the moon is closest to earth this
time of year. The “wolf” part is attributed to Native Americans in a
conglomeration of romanticized notions of the January full moon. Our local
Ojibwe refer to it as the Great Spirit Moon. I should try and stay up to try and get some
pictures. It is only supposed to be a little below zero (F) tonight and if the
wind dies down it won’t be too bad if I am out on the deck.
Before and after the eclipse it should look like this.
it will be too damn cloudy to see the eclipse here. and too damn cold! LOVE these little jokes above!
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the clouds. Jokes? Those are jokes?
DeleteGreat cold winter memes! Everyone in the northern US states is an honourary Canadian because you truly know WINTER!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Wish we were as balmy as Toronto or coastal B.C.
DeleteI wanted to take pictures of the moon from this side of the globe. Too cloudy.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh, how your wintry images speak to my overheated sweaty self.
Stay warm, stay safe.
I love the contrast between our seasons! If only I could afford to go back and forth once in a while!
DeleteHey Jono thanks for explaining why it's call "wolf" moon. I just heard this morning that we were having this tonight and I said I have to google that and now I don't. :-)
ReplyDeleteThere! I saved you from having your data mined by Google. Now if I could only do it for myself!
DeleteJono--I'm going to try and stay up to see it, too. But more than likely, I'll be on the couch, drooling and snoring at midnight.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Just because I WANT to stay up, freeze my tuchas off, and take some photos doesn't necessarily mean it will happen.
DeleteMakes our forty degrees or so feel positively tropical by comparison.
ReplyDeleteHope the moonlight doesn't freeze on the way to your camera.....
Forty? Above zero?? Downright tropical! The thing with the moonlight and all this snow is that you can read by it. Moonshadows everywhere!
DeleteHilarious cartoons. Looking forward to your moon pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll try to post them if they turned out.
DeleteI can't believe I'm the first to say it: Cool post! Now I'm running out to look at the moon.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! You've still got it! It'll be a few hours.
DeletePlease tell me you stayed up and snapped the pics!
ReplyDeleteAnd regarding the man with the ax in the river... WTH?
Yes, I did! If any turned out I will send you one or two.
DeleteMy guess is he is opening up the water for his after sauna dip.
Love the memes! Really, your weather seems overall much more severe than many places in Canada, and for much more of the year. Last night we were having a downpour in above zero (C) weather. No moon for us!
ReplyDeleteIt's just because we're in the middle of the continent. An ocean would be nice, but the big lake can't exert as much influence. If we had rain, we'd be caked in ice until April!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and your nice comment. Enjoy your week and stay warm!
ReplyDeleteEven waaaay down there in the southern part of the state, you'll need to put on an extra layer for the next week or so.
DeleteI couldn't be bothered with the moon thing. The gut who put a piece of bologna in his window and took a picture is my hero.
ReplyDeleteThe Maritime winters are pure hell from what I gather. Heavy snow and ice storms galore. Maybe you don't want to live by an ocean unless it is the South Pacific.
I like the bologna idea! Beats standing out in the cold! Cold and damp can cut right through a person. Even in the milder climates.
DeleteI saw the HUGE moon when I was going home from the hockey arena at around 6pm, but didnt go out to see it later, far too cold here, -25C and high winds, OK that's balmy to Minnesotans, but to me it's time to get the fluffy jammies on and hibernate.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I appreciate my fleece lined pants and multiple layers of loose clothing. I like those old down jackets that make person look like a hand grenade with legs.
DeleteWow, your sea smoke is amazing! I spent too long living on the prairies - if I saw something like that hovering on the horizon, I'd seek shelter fast.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, our clouds cleared and we got to see the lunar eclipse - it was a perfect night just hovering around freezing, and we spent an hour sitting on the deck bundled up and enjoying the eclipse and the stars. I hope you got to see it!
P.S. I'm thinking the guy in the "Minnesota" photo might not want to go too much deeper in that water... ;-)
If I ever get to Mumbai I will be sure to check out the escorts. Will they give me a tour of the city and the sights? Since I don't know the language having someone escort me would be good, right?
ReplyDeleteSea smoke is one of those phenomena that you have to be uncomfortably cold to see. If you see something like that and it isn't cold out it would be good to run as fast as you can away from it.
ReplyDeleteThe eclipse was nice to see, wasn't it?
If he's a real Minnesotan, it is already too late!
You made me laugh out loud! Poor Minnesotans.
DeleteLOL! I suspect you'd learn the "language" pretty quickly...
ReplyDeleteSea smoke is definitely an interesting phenomenon - and looks much better than the interesting phenomenon that Lake Erie produces for Buffalo: lake effect snow!
ReplyDeleteI missed the eclipse - ended up going to bed. Hope you got some nice pics. Love all the cool jokes!