Ice Skirts

April 23, 2014

IceSkirtComp

Photographer: Ken Scott; Ken's Web site
Summary Authors: Ken Scott; Jim Foster

The photomontage above shows the aftermath of flooding in the wetlands near where I live in northern Michigan. It was taken on April 14, 2014. Approximately two inches (50 mm) of rain fell onto the snowpack during the preceding two days, leading to local flooding. The water receded quickly in concert with plunging temperatures, but before doing so froze, leaving these curious ice skirts -- right center and right bottom photos. The temperature dropped to about 14 F or -10 C overnight, after the rain had ended. However, only the surface, highest water level and coldest layer, of the flood waters froze over.