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snow

How Animals Stay Warm In Winter

March 18, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

red fox in its winter coat courtesy Wikimedia user Lvaughn7To survive the cold of winter, some animals take advantage of protected habitats, such as wooded areas or under a blanket of insulating snow. Ruffed grouse, for example, fly into piles of loose snow and create roosting cavities to rest in when not foraging. Mice and other small mammals remain active in tunnels under the snow. [Read more…] about How Animals Stay Warm In Winter

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: birds, coyotes, dogs, fox, Science, small mammals, snow, waterfowl, weather, whitetail deer, Wildlife, winter, wolves

Icicles, Snow Doughnuts, and Hair Ice

February 24, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

bulbous icicles hang from a branch over a river courtesy Wikimedia user Matthew.kowal A few winters ago, I snowshoed along a trail that led below a series of cliffs with rows of huge, hanging icicles. These icicles were up to 40 feet long, with colors ranging from blue-green to yellowish-brown. In some spots, the icicles extended from clifftop to base, forming thick columns of ice. This spectacular display was created by water from melting snow and underground seeps dripping off the cliffs, refreezing, and building up over time. Minerals leached out of rock and soil can contribute to the colors of icicles. [Read more…] about Icicles, Snow Doughnuts, and Hair Ice

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: ice, snow, weather, winter

Avalanche Warning Issued For Adirondack Mountains

February 22, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Avalanche anatomy illustration courtesy T3 AdventuresThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has issued an avalanche warning, advising backcountry downhill skiers, snowboarders, and all outdoor adventurers who may traverse slides or steep, open terrain in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks to be aware of and prepared for avalanche conditions.

Several avalanches have been reported in the High Peaks over recent weeks. Forecast weather will exacerbate existing conditions, making them even more prone to sliding. [Read more…] about Avalanche Warning Issued For Adirondack Mountains

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, Avalanches, backcountry skiing, DEC, Essex County, Hamilton County, High Peaks, skiing, snow, snowboarding, snowshoeing, Snowy Mountain, weather

Diapause & Insect Winter Inactivity

January 14, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Adirondack lake ice during a winter thawThe unseasonably mild conditions we have been experiencing this winter has been unusual, but is not unprecedented. In the past, there have been numerous bouts of warm weather and limited snowfalls that have produced similar periods when the ground became bare and the temperatures frequently rose above freezing. [Read more…] about Diapause & Insect Winter Inactivity

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: Climate Change, ice, insects, snow, Wildlife, winter

Historic Snowstorms of Central New York

January 12, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

CNY Snowstorm book front coverCentral New York is renowned as one of the snowiest regions in the world. In the past, major snowstorms have crippled cities, towns, and farming country for weeks at a time.

From the Lake Ontario port in Oswego to the busy streets of Syracuse and Utica, every community in the region has found themselves buried from brutal snowstorms. [Read more…] about Historic Snowstorms of Central New York

Filed Under: Books, Events, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Disaster Management, Lake Ontario, natural disasters, Oneida County History Center, Oswego, snow, Syracuse, Utica, weather

1880s January Weather Reports: Ice Harvest, Cold Weather, Snow

January 12, 2022 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

ice harvestIt was a frigid January at Glens Falls in 1883, which was good for the ice men.

“The ice in the river at this point is now twelve inches thick,” The Morning Star reported on January 4th. “Several ice men announced they will commence their annual harvest on Monday.” [Read more…] about 1880s January Weather Reports: Ice Harvest, Cold Weather, Snow

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: ice, snow, Warren County, Washington County, weather, winter

How to Preserve a Snowflake

December 11, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Macro-photography of a snowflake courtesy Alexey Kljatov Wilson Bentley (1865-1931) lived his entire life in Jericho, Vermont, where he developed a passion for snowflakes at an early age.

He started by collecting snowflakes and trying to create detailed drawings of each one, but the snow crystals’ tiny size and the speed at which they melted made this a futile task.

At age 15, with a microscope gifted to him by his mother, Bentley began experimenting with photography as a means of capturing the elusive design of a snowflake. [Read more…] about How to Preserve a Snowflake

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: nature, Science History, snow, winter

The Great Blizzard of March 1888 in Washington County

March 22, 2021 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

10_PM_March_12_surface_analysis_of_Great_Blizzard_of_1888If, when browsing the antiques shops of Washington County, you should spot an old hat with “March 12-13, 1888” marked inside, there is a story behind it.  A story almost not fully told.

“It is unnecessary to speak in detail of the storm,” The Granville Sentinel reported on March 16, 1888. “It has been everywhere and all know its effect.” Then, as if the editor had second thoughts, the report continued for the full column and about half of a another, a rare luxury of space afforded only the most important of news stories in 19th century newspapers.

It was definitively the biggest storm of the season, and possibly of the century. [Read more…] about The Great Blizzard of March 1888 in Washington County

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature Tagged With: Newspapers, snow, Washington County, winter

Poetry: After Snowfall

March 13, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

After Snowfall

I have come to like
the simple symmetry of
snow-blowing
our driveway.

It is like erasing
a great white board
revealing
a dazzling surface
on which to write again
the equations for
the rest of our lives.

About the Poet: Gene Ervine loves the crisp snowy winters of Alaska. He grew up in the cool, wet woods of the Pacific Northwest praying for snow. When his wife Nancy took a teaching job in a one-room school in a logging camp they moved to Alaska “for a year,” that adventure has stretched into lifetimes.

He studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Exposure to the Imagists and Beats have shaped his writing. Gene worked as an exhibit planner and writer for the Department of the Interior. He now lives in Anchorage. For over forty years Alaska’s varied landscapes and seasons have inspired him.

Read more poems at the New York Almanack HERE.

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: art, Poetry, snow, winter

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