A Frozen Lake Erie & Cleveland Skyline

There is nothing quite like the frigid cold look of a frozen Lake Erie. Well, maybe except for the Arctic and Antarctica. Here’s a look at the Cleveland Ohio skyline and a frozen Lake Erie, taken from a 8 stories up in a building in Euclid Ohio, right on the shoreline. The ice was blindingly white and not only hard on the eyes, but on the camera as well, which, like my eyes, had difficulty adjusting to the intense light. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

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A Fox Squirrel Meditates

With a heavy lake effect snow hitting northeast Ohio last weekend, it was hard to find any color in the landscape. But one fox squirrel braved the bad weather, sitting quietly in a low branch in our oak tree and seemed to  meditate over the whiteness all around. The squirrel’s coloring looked warm in contrast to the white snow and the grayness of the tree. Here’s a photo.

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Icy Weather Makes Trees Sparkle

A winter storm that came through late Sunday and into Monday brought a mixture of ice and snow. Even after the storm pulled away, bitter cold temperatures remained. When the sun came up this morning, the trees were still coated with ice and many branches were shining as if they were lined with light. Here are a few photos which attempt to capture the sparkle. (Click on any image for a larger view.)





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Sun Dog and Halo in Advance of Winter Storm

A winter storm – described by weather people as a “monster” – is heading across the country. The first wave has already blanketed northeast Ohio with a heavy dose of snow. The second wave, which promises more snow and ice, will arrive later today. Still, there was something beautiful to see in advance of the storm. While I was out yesterday morning, as the sun was rising in the sky, I spotted a halo around the sun along with a “sun dog.” Luckily I had my small camera with me so I could capture the view and share a picture with you.

(Click on the image for a larger view)

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Cleveland Lighthouse Becomes an Ice Castle (HD Video)

Here is the video I took yesterday of the Cleveland West Harbor Lighthouse that was covered in ice from high waves and frigid weather. You can find some of my still photos here: ”Cleveland Lighthouse Becomes an Ice Castle”.

This footage was taken from the Edgewater Park vantage point. Sorry for the slightly shaky camera – it was cold and windy and I forgot my tripod!




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Cleveland Lighthouse Becomes an Ice Castle

It made national and international news - the Cleveland Harbor West Lighthouse, on the bank of the Cuyahoga River as it enters Lake Erie, was covered with a thick coating of ice. (I wrote about it in my Cleveland blog here: ”Cleveland Lighthouse Encased in Ice”.) The windy weather, plus the frigid temperatures, kicked up icy waves which splashed – and then froze – on the lighthouse. We had to go see it for ourselves, so we took a drive down to Wendy Park (located on Whiskey Island just west of downtown Cleveland), with all the camera gear in tow. The lighthouse was a spectacular sight. The nearby the Old US Coast Guard Station (photo also below) seemed untouched by the waves. We also stopped at Edgewater Park immediately west of Whiskey Island to check out the odd ice formations there made by splashing water. Some photos are below; I also included one of my photos of the lighthouse that I took last May, just for comparison. (Click on any image for a larger view.)

The lighthouse - in warm weather:

Here is the same lighthouse today:

(Nearby old Coast Guard station)

All Content © Chris A. Zimmer and chriszimmer.blogspot.com

One Foot Of Snow; The Snow Piles Are Growing

We got about a foot of snow from the big snowstorm that came across the Midwest, starting here yesterday evening. We still had large piles of snow in the driveway from the last big snowstorm, and they have now grown to a huge size. I asked my husband to stand in the photos that I took for scale. I decided to have some fun with the pictures that I took of him standing in the driveway near the piles of snow, and I stitched four of them together. The result is below! He's such a good sport.

Needless to say, we’re tired of the snow. But, living in northeast Ohio, we know that winter – and the snow – is far from over.

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Frosty Fractals, Part 2

It got down to about 9 degrees last night, so the conditions were good for some frost to form on our garage windows. The sky was also very clear today, which provided some nice bright light in order to get the full effects of the intricate frost. I always enjoy the sparkling fractal patters that form in the frost. Sadly, the sparkle doesn’t translate very well with the camera, but the patterns are clearly visible by just adding a little more contrast to the picture, and adding a solarizing effect. Here are a few pictures for all the fractal fans out there to enjoy from the warmth of their own homes! Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

A Foot Of Snow, More To Come

We received about a foot of snow from a large winter storm that occurred from a collision of an “Alberta Clipper” from Canada (with cold air) and a wet low pressure system coming up from the south. The result: A foot of snow in our yard. Since there was virtually no wind with this storm, the snow dropped straight down and settled on surfaces, piling high in some cases.

Most interesting was the snow pattern on this wind catcher that hangs on one of our big oak trees. The wind catcher usually spins with the slightest breeze, but not today. It stayed still long enough for a few inches of snow to pile up on it.

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When Fall and Winter Collide

Technically, this is still fall. But, with the lake effect snow we received in the last 24 hours, it looks more like winter.

The lawn is now covered with snow, with a nice layer of leaves scattered all over the top. Some of our trees were slow to lose their leaves so as the snow fell, so did the leaves. It actually looks very pretty, but it would be a little hard to rake those leaves right now!






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The First Snowfall of Winter 2008

It was bound to happen sooner or later. We got our first snowfall of the season, and it wasn’t just a little dusting. It was one of those heavy, wet, lake effect snows that just keeps going and going and going. It also included a heavy dose of thunder. I don't know why, but the thunder I hear when there is "thundersnow" always seems so much loader, and rumbles longer, than thunder with a rain storm.

We are lucky that we got a lot of the leaves picked up over the weekend, otherwise we we have a thick mat of frozen leaves under all that snow. But, as you can see by the photos, some of the trees still have quite a few leaves on them that haven’t completely changed to their fall colors and are yet to drop. It does look pretty, though.

Some of the maples and the oak still have their leaves

One of the burning bush is getting cooled off with the snow

The blue oat grass is getting buried

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