# St Barts Forums > Storm Tracker >  >  It's cold

## Voosh

It was a no-snow year here until we had a big, almost record setting, dump last week. Now it's downright chilly and will stay that way for a while. As some know, I spend a fair amount of time outdoors all year 'round. Nature always surprises me. Rarely see small critters out when it's this cold. It was about 5F (it did go below 0 during the night) when I ran across this furry bugger sitting on a branch this morn. Pulled out a granola bar and tossed some crumbs its way. Guess I made a new friend.

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## amyb

nice work

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## katva

Mighty cold, Voosh!

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## Voosh

Back up there, usually for me. 


 


Good thing I'm back here tonight. It's downright warm.  :evil: 


 


Yes. Yes. We didn't get the record painful snowdumps that some of you eastcoasters got. But, it is chilly here. Time to break out one of Albert's rhums.

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## Jeanette

This is the mountain of snow down the street at MIT before last night's blizzard. They are using a construction crane to pile the snow.

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## elgreaux

that's quite impressive.. I hear they are going to dump the snow into the sea to get rid of it.. the Boston snow party?

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## MIke R

Negative 12 this morning with a  wind  chill of negative 45.......school on two hour delay  to give the bus companies time to get the busses going....

ski lifts are running today but you would have  to be completely out of your mind to want to ski ....but with a sold out resort this week they will be up there giving it the ol college try I'm sure...

better them than me......We ll be in the shops  waiting for them

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## andynap

We are ONLY at 3 with a wind chill of -15. It's really brutal outside.

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## NYCFred

> that's quite impressive.. I hear they are going to dump the snow into the sea to get rid of it.. the Boston snow party?



Don't have think so...dumping snow will put all kinds of nasty chemicals in the ocean...like salt.

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## amyb

So cold--getting the paper this morning was chilling.

OK-I am counting. "Have to get out of this place"

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## MIke R

> Don't have think so...dumping snow will put all kinds of nasty chemicals in the ocean...like salt.




Salt isn't the issue.....magnesium chloride and calcium chloride are the issues....that would be a really bad idea but how much you wanna bet they do it anyway? .....Boston is already dumping 350,000 gallons of "treated" sewerage fresh water  everyday into Mass Bay ....whats a little snow among friends?

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## MIke R

> So cold--getting the paper this morning was chilling.
> 
> OK-I am counting. "Have to get out of this place"




Yeah im actually looking forward to Southern California in two weeks.......what good is all this great snow if you can't get out and ski it!!!!!......crazy winter for sure

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## stbartshopper

As the song says, 'Baby it's cold outside!'

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## KevinS

MA communities are usually banned from dumping snow into the sea by the state Department of Environmental Prevention.  There are exceptions that are made during emergencies.  Some towns are known to have done some sea dumping.  Boston, at least at this point, thinks that they may not have to go quite that far.  They've borrowed and purchased massive snow melters to help get rid of the snow.  Nobody has mentioned just where the melt water goes...

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## MIke R

> .  Nobody has mentioned just where the melt water goes...




at least in that case it percs through the soil and gets filtered before it hits the water table....not a great option but better then direct dumping...

and the mountain just officially shut down as we now have winds over 30MPH......oh for joy!

Town Square on a sold out day this hour is usually alive with people...this is where all the breakfast joints are located...its where Cross Country Skiing  stages from..its where the horse drawn sleds stage from....its where our indoor and out door skating takes place.........its the hub....

and this is what it looks like right now.......not a soul...LOL....wow....the outdoor fire pit in the photo cant even be turned on because the wind will blow it out!!!

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## julianne

Wow, Mike. Maybe they will all visit your cozy shop instead!

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## MIke R

Board games, books, and coloring books/crayon sales have been rather robust this morning!!!!

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## kent1994

> Yeah im actually looking forward to Southern California in two weeks.......what good is all this great snow if you can't get out and ski it!!!!!......crazy winter for sure



The folks in Colorado would take all the snow you can send their way.

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## MIke R

> The folks in Colorado would take all the snow you can send their way.



nah..having lived there I talk to someone out there pretty regularly....they re in great shape......40+ inch bases and steady snow falling...

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## amyb

Stay warm and safe and curl up with good books. Any indoor activity should work to keep your spirits up. Dare I mention Naps?

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## Peter NJ

You know its cold when salt water freezes like this

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## MIke R

You sure do....

Mt Washintton this morning was the second coldest place on the planet today at negative 38 ambient with wind gusts to 141 mph

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## NYCFred

The small cross-Hudson ferries...NY to NJ...are using large tugboats as icebreakers this morning. 

I don't think Fire Island Ferries will be up and running again til March. Kind of a PITA if you're renovating this winter...deliveries need to be broken down, loaded on pickups and driven up the beach.

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## MIke R

A friend of mine runs a tug crane boat working on the Tappan Zee and they re having a hell of a time

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## amyb

So I am driving to work and the car tells me temp is 2 degrees. TWO! What the heck is TWO?  I mean, what is it that made a pair of degrees show up today? And what if one goes astray? What am I then going to do with one?  Let's hope they meet other degrees and help bring some warm to Long Island. Enough. I am so missing St Barth!

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## MIke R

2 eh???..wow....good for you!!..we re at negative 5 trying to get to zero at the moment......LOL

so see..its all relative.....

lot of people not skiing and shopping instead  :Big Grin:

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## MIke R



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## MIke R

*Coast Guard tug working overtime to cut through icy water**In Little Harbor in Woods Hole early Thursday, a crew of seven Coast Guardsmen were starting their day of ice-breaking on the Bollard tugboat.*

COM
The Steamship Authority ferry the Island Home is framed in the window of the Coast Guard tug Bollard as it works to keep the channel on Vineyard Sound clear of ice. View an online gallery with more photos: capecodtimes.com/photos Steve Heaslip photos/Cape Cod Times
*By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com* 
Posted Feb. 21, 2015 @ 2:00 am
Updated at 6:43 AM 
WOODS HOLE  In Little Harbor early Thursday, a crew of seven Coast Guardsmen were starting their day of ice-breaking on the Bollard tugboat, on loan since Monday to Station Woods Hole from New Haven, Connecticut.The ice next to the dock appeared thin and glistening but not much farther out were wide expanses of pancake ice, flat and about 5 inches thick and covered with snow. On the horizon was one ferry, green and red channel markers and snow-covered buoys that sometimes disappeared underwater. In places the water appeared still, and in other places the current was running fast.Its all drifting ice, Bollard chief Lance Defoggi said at around 8 a.m. Its thick but its soft.The 65-foot Bollard is one of six harbor ice-breaking tugs in the Northeast district of the Coast Guard, from Maine to northern New Jersey. The 70-ton tug and a larger buoy tender are breaking ice in the southeastern region of New England this winter.The southeastern Coast Guard stations, such as in Woods Hole, typically dont have ice-breaking vessels assigned to them, given the open seas, tidal range and fast currents that tend to keep the waters clear of ice, according to Matt Stuck, waterways manager for the Coast Guard's Northeast district. The two vessels have been in Lewis Bay, off Hyannis, in harbors off Vineyard Haven and Nantucket, and in Buzzards Bay and New Bedford. Of the two, the Bollard is the best at the ice, and for this winter that is whats needed.The benchmark for ice on the water in New England is the winter of 2004, Coast Guard and local officials said.This is the most severe winter weve had since then, in terms of ice area coverage and ice thickness, Stuck said.

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## Voosh

Yep. It's cold. Last Friday morn I was going to an appointment and my car was reading -16F (not windchill, _real cold_). One of the folks there had driven in from Ann Arbor and said it was -25 there. I checked the temps online - yep - those numbers were real. 

This morning it was -7 when I let _that dawg_ out. This afternoon it was a balmy 15 when I went over to Home Depot. Most of us were just wearing sweatshirts and no coats in this heat wave. It's amazing how our bodies adjust. The transitions (fall/spring) really get me as I get older. But.. then ya just deal with it (with reasonable precautions.) 

Some old pics I've posted before that make me smile as I pine for sitting on Guv... 





 



This one from Petri - 


 


 





Your intrepid, snowbound reporter, 


 



And here in warmer climes...

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## amyb

Voosh-we found the solution and we are so happy to be here. I often say I am the luckiest girl in the world. And each year I find I have less tolerance for cold weather so you are not alone on that.

Keep safe and take care.

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## KevinS

I recently received this from a friend:

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## Rosemary

Funny, Kevin, and Voosh - thank you for the reprise of those pictures!  Comedy is helpful in just about everything.

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## MIke R

Minus 9 right now.....the wood stove is glowing....lol

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## MIke R

*

*




NEWSMAGAZINESHOPHELLOSTOCK LISTEXPO

*THE SLURPEE WAVES OF NANTUCKET*

*February 24, 2015*





*Dang!* Have you ever seen waves get so cold they turn to slurpee? We haven't. So when surfer/photographer/Stay Wild contributor Jonathan Nimerfroh showed us these sweet shots he captured in Nantucket we had to share.
When we asked Jonathan what the fawk this was all about he said, "Just been super cold here. The harbor to the main land is frozen solid. No boats running.But yea, the day after I took these it actually froze up the shoreline for 200 yards out. Solid ice. I was totally tripping when I pulled up to the beach and saw this."

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## amyb

Amazing and stunning. Go know!  

Very special conditions and thanks for sharing.

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## Reed

Mike,

Thanks for sharing Johnathan's photos.  He is a very talented photog on Nantucket.  The pictures all over FB of our frozen harbor and these slurpee waves have been amazing.  The area where Kona would usually scallop is frozen over out in Madaket.  Crazy stuff.  Happy to be witnessing from afar:). KR

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## amyb

So glad Kona got out in time. Has he thawed?

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## MIke R

> Mike,
> 
> Thanks for sharing Johnathan's photos.  He is a very talented photog on Nantucket.  The pictures all over FB of our frozen harbor and these slurpee waves have been amazing.  The area where Kona would usually scallop is frozen over out in Madaket.  Crazy stuff.  Happy to be witnessing from afar:). KR



yeah P Town harbor is frozen as well.....and given the higer then average salinity the waters around the Cape and Nantucket have makes it even more mind blowing to see.......but as you know...before we know it....the days will be longer, the sun will be warmer, the southerly winds will be more frequent and just like that this will be nothing but  a memory.....

still though its hard to believe I ll be launching my boat and taking it to PTown in just 8 weeks...given what it looks like today!!!!

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## Voosh

*Local* *Ice Caves Taking Shape Along Shoreline Of Lake Michigan* _February 19, 2015 7:44 PM_ 

Share on email 33 
View Comments 
Ice cave in Glen Arbor. (Credit/Leelanau Adventures Facebook)


*Related Tags:* Eric LaPaugh, Ice Caves, Leelanau Adventures 
*GLEN ARBOR, Mich. (WWJ/AP)* – Ice caves are once again forming along the shoreline of Lake Michigan outside Traverse City.
 A video by WPBN-TV shows a number of ice caves that have taken shape near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
(Credit/Leelanau Adventures FB)

 The caves are formed by wind and waves pushing new ice on top of existing ice.
 Glen Arbor resident Eric LaPaugh says the caves aren’t quite as big  as they were last year. Thirty-foot ice formations were spotted on  Leelanau County’s shoreline last winter, attracting many visitors.
 “It’s amazing,” he says, “like being in an underground cathedral. The ice and snow glowed from the sunlight which came through.”
 For people interested in seeing the caves, LaPaugh says to not to  walk on the mound of the cave because it’s hollow, and that they could  fall through the ice.
 LaPaugh takes precautions: he never goes out alone, stressing the  buddy system and telling a third-party where he is going, when he’s  going and what time he should be returning.
 You can find more photos [here]. 


Last year we had unreal ice caves. This year is plenty cool. I'm stuck down here and probably won't catch them. 


Health stuff is a puddle here. One of our crew is hurtin'. Missed this year. Keep Clint in mind. Thanks.

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## Reed

> So glad Kona got out in time. Has he thawed?





I've been working on it :Wink: .  He is up to 5 miles swimming a day in St. Jean so that helps too. kr

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## stbartshopper

In Indiana it will be minus 2 and minus 4 actuals respectively on fri. (tomorrow) and Saturday and these temps are headed east. UGH! Where is spring?

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## amyb

I am impressed!  Go Kona.

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## Peter NJ

Siberia or Highlands? Took this from Sandy Hook looking over at our town

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## NYCFred

> Minus 9 right now.....the wood stove is glowing....lol



I thought that was illegal now?

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## MIke R

> I thought that was illegal now?



what the hell are you talking about ?

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## amyb

Wood burning stoves, I think.

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## andynap

> what the hell are you talking about ?



Not surprisingly, he doesn't know what he's talking about. :)

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## MIke R

> Wood burning stoves, I think.



ah....wood burning stives are not illegal .....half of northern New England would not have heat if that were the case .....besides almost all the newer stoves burn so efficiently and have catalytic converters in their exhaust stack so it's all good in terms of pollution .....you look at my chimney and hardly see anything coming out

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## elgreaux

this may be what Fred was referring to


*Ordinances and Regulations | Burn Wise | US EPA*www.epa.gov/*burn*wise/o...



United States Environmental Protection Agency



Certain jurisdictions have established *legal* requirements to reduce wood smoke. ... Have banned the installation of new *wood*-*burning stoves* or fireplaces.

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## MIke R

> this may be what Fred was referring to
> 
> 
> *Ordinances and Regulations | Burn Wise | US EPA*
> 
> www.epa.gov/*burn*wise/o...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



makes no sense......the new stoves are less impactful then other forms of heat .....if anything ban the old leaky stoves which are awful on the air ......the new ones recycle the smoke and burn it just like the catalytic converter in your car......but whatever..there was never any talk of that here or in Colorado......a few nights when the air was really still they would say if you live in a valley community don't  burn wood ......but that's about it

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