Head in the Clouds Amherst: February 2018

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Winterfest Luminaria on the Common

Amherst Winterfest opens with "Luminaria on the Common"
Photography by Amherst Winterfest (please identify!) - 2/3/2018

Love this extraordinary photo of yesterday's Amherst Winterfest opening, with "Luminaria on the Common." For the first time this year, Winterfest is happening for a full week, February 3-10, with events scheduled every day. Check out the schedule here.

Friday, February 2, 2018

Morning Musings on Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day Morning, North Amherst
Photo by S. Vardatira, 2/2/2018

Questions on my mind about our most famous weather forecaster:

Does Punxsutawney Phil forecast for all of the northern hemisphere, just Pennsylvania, the East Coast, or some other geographic area? Seems to me that his forecast should just pertain to Punxsutawney and not anywhere else.
Are groundhogs around here even coming out of hibernation yet? This does not strike me as a morning an Amherst groundhog would want to be yanked out of the ground.
And as a friend just commented, isn't six more weeks until spring essentially an early spring here in the Northeast? Yes!

Finally, for those who have not yet heard the news, Punxsutawney Phil did indeed see his shadow this morning. And it also snowed and got colder. So take that however you wish. It's shocking, I know, but it turns out that Punxsutawney Phil is not that dependable a forecaster.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Morning Dusting of Snow

Featured photo for the month of February in the 2018 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar was taken by friend of HITC and previous calendar contributor, Elisa Campbell. By sheer coincidence, this photo could have been taken this very morning - light snow overnight has turned our world into this exact scene.

On Puffer's Pond

Saturday, February 4, 2023, 3:35 pm: The past two days have seen record-breaking cold in the area, with the temperature dipping to -14F overnight, Friday into Saturday. To make matters worse, the wind was unyielding, whipping through the trees and driving wind chill readings down to -40F. In a season that had been unusually mild up until that point, it was something of a shock. Local residents were suddenly forced to think about warming up their cars, preventing pipes from freezing, and dressing in multiple layers to walk their dogs. By Saturday, while many were happy to hunker down and wait for temperatures to stop breaking low records, this was the moment that ice fishers and skaters had been waiting for all winter. With temps hovering around 12F (albeit above zero) by Saturday afternoon, Puffer's Pond was the place to be for about 30 people, many of whom were spread out over the ice, either ice fishing or playing hockey. While this is a fairly typical sight at Puffer's in the coldest winter months, our current lack of snow made it unique. No one had to contend with snowpack - the skaters didn't even have to clear a "field" for their game. And with all the hiking paths snow and ice-free, photographers had no trouble capturing water flowing through, under, and around layers of ice on the water. And, still, at 12F, without hand and foot warmers, I did not linger long. The temps will be rising quickly in the coming week, climbing well above freezing, even to 50F in the days to come. So, I'm guessing the skaters and ice fishers also won't be here much longer.

(Read past entries here.)

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