Monday, January 19, 2015

Iced Branches

After our holiday thaw, winter returned with a vengeance in a weather system that gave us snow, freezing rain, and a plummeting of temperatures. The way freezing rain interacts with trees and bushes is beautiful, albeit destructive.


These two shots are at the north side of the Bank Street Bridge, where bushes and trees rise up alongside the bridge. In such cases, it's best to leave the branches alone, weighted down with ice though they are. They'll bounce back when the ice shakes loose, but trying to remove the ice will just break branches.



50 comments:

  1. As tou say,it looks nice but is damaging. I hate freezing rain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very weird winter for where I live, this year. It's winter, it's spring, it's winter again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful photos.
    Thank Goodness the bad freezing rain is back up where you are. Where it belongs !
    For some reason Canada's Polar Jet Stream keeps dipping down and trying to freeze the rest of my citrus trees it didn't kill 6 years ago. Please keep it with you.

    cheers, parsnip

    ReplyDelete
  4. it looks very white, must be really cold !

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tonight woke me my wife to look how it was snowing. It was pleasant to see. It is the first time I see snow in Madrid this year.

    Tomás.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Belas fotos Willliam. Deixar a natureza fazer o seu trabalho. Bem que eu gostaria de sentir só um pouquinho de frio. Aqui está um calor insuportável. Temperaturas altíssimas.
    Uma boa semana
    Abraços

    ReplyDelete
  7. We were surprised by a fine layer of "invisible" ice yesterday morning that proved treacherous.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is bad for the branches, they often are damaged by the heavy ice.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have more snow than we have just now.
    Hope you'll get more and more snow.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow your poor trees! but it is kinda beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow those iced branches are beautiful! Sorry for trees but I guess they have to wait patiently until ice gets loose or melt away.
    I bet they'll look stunning when sun shines on them.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes I can just imagine those frozen branches snapping. I haven't ever even seen a frozen branch :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I haven't been in that area for awhile now. The trees do look gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  14. it is neat to see each twig fully encased, but as you said, dangerous and destructive, too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. @Red: I don't like it either. Walking in it is treacherous.

    @Whisk: well here we do get freezing rain on occasion in the winter. Usually it's just a little bit. Back in 1998 however there was a massive ice storm in this part of the continent, and you can still see some of the damage.

    @Parsnip: we can't control the jet stream!

    @Massimo: it tends to be quite damp in those conditions, and you seem to feel the cold more.

    @Tomas: snow in Madrid must be different!

    @Gracita: thank you!

    @Revrunner: definitely not something you want to experience in the wrong way.

    @Marianne: that's quite true, it does happen.

    @Orvokki: the snow we've got is going to stay for a good while, with more to come.

    @Aimee: it's quite a contrast: beauty and destruction.

    @Tamago: they do look lovely in the sunlight.

    @Birdman: that's a good way to put it.

    @Grace: now they're looking better. The ice does eventually fall off.

    @Deb: there's a cat shop up the street that you'd love!

    @Tex: very destructive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We get lots of freezing rain here, too.

      All part of winter in a snowbelt.

      Delete
  16. Winter makes for lovely photos though.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ah... an everyday scene also here...

    ReplyDelete
  18. I can hear those branches popping and cracking as I look a the photos.

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's a little icy here too, William! Be careful!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Impressive pictures, we are not really used to weather like this... Once in a while it happens, but for us is quite scary!

    ReplyDelete
  21. It is beautiful but destructive. My dad has a coffee table book about the 1998 ice storm. Hard to believe all the destruction. My Aunt lived in Kingston at the time and had to move her family to a shelter for 3 weeks because there was no water/power at her home.

    ReplyDelete
  22. @Denise: it certainly does.

    @Karl: we can expect freezing rain here from time to time each winter.

    @Sharon: it's a strange sound to hear.

    @EG: I do try to take care being out and about in the winter.

    @VP: southern Ontario really got hammered by a freezing rain storm in December of 2013, but even that wasn't as bad as the 1998 storm.

    @Jen: I have that book too. It's quite a vivid account of the storm.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This scene reminds me of the ice storm we had here in Montreal in 1998.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It hit SE Ontario, too, as well as many in Quebec!

      Delete
  24. These are striking! Yes, Ice Storm '98. It was awful in Ontario, too.

    ReplyDelete
  25. It's awful to see how destructive this icy rain can be.

    ReplyDelete
  26. C'est très joli ... le genre de paysages d'hiver que j'aime beaucoup.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Though the ice is very destructive, it makes for great photos. We haven't had any ice here yet this winter. It rained today and got up to +8C. Very spring-like.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I can't recall ever having seen this in my adult life. Destructive yes maybe but oh I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I don't know of anything more beautiful than looking outside to see trees encased in crystal! So long as I don't have to go out among them!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I get the shivers just looking at it!

    ReplyDelete
  31. We seem to have missed most of that one here!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I've never experienced this...and reading some of the comments above makes me happy I've missed it. Hope you can stay warm!

    ReplyDelete
  33. @Linda: I'll be adding on a link or two in tomorrow's post about that.

    @Jennifer: in some places the scars are still there from that storm.

    @Marleen: in this case, it put some people out of power, but nothing near what it had been in other storms.

    @Anna: winter is my favourite season.

    @Pamela: we had warmer temperatures here yesterday, but it never got over the freezing mark.

    @Ciel: it's definitely not fun to walk in!

    @Cheryl: if one can stay inside, it's for the best!

    @Norma: a serious ice storm like the one in 1998 would be a nightmare anywhere.

    @RedPat: you had enough of one last December!

    @Kay: it can be much more destructive than other storms, and yet the destruction seems to be done in silence.

    ReplyDelete
  34. They might be pretty but I'm glad I don't have to deal with stuff like that. Brrrrr!

    ReplyDelete
  35. that is wild looking. i am not sure i have seen limbs do that? i guess it is due to a real cold temp? or? ( :

    ReplyDelete
  36. Brr! OMG! Like looking upon a hostile landscape!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    <3

    ReplyDelete
  37. "Snow was an adventure - now seems indenture" Cloudia :-)

    ReplyDelete
  38. @Lois: but dangerous!

    @Lowell: it is rough weather to get out in.

    @Mari: in this case, I agree. Freezing rain becomes problematic.

    @Beth: it's the weight of the ice that can twist branches like that. They do bounce back- the ice is largely off them now, and these bushes are looking better.

    @Randy: not nearly as thick as the 1998 Ice Storm.

    @Cloudia: wait til you see tomorrow's post.

    ReplyDelete
  39. this was supposed to be a harsh winter from what everyone was saying...very mild so far....some cold temps here and there but no big snow/ice events yet!

    ReplyDelete
  40. We get those conditions here his Greensboro. Seems like February and even March can be bad. We'll see. Hope you don't have to venture too far!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Freezing rain is the only kind of weather in winter I dislike.

      Delete