Our Bridge of Concrete and Pine Barricades

Mill Street Bridge barricade festooned with pine and other natural decorations

Anyone who lives in or drives through North Amherst has undoubtedly discovered by now that the Mill Street Bridge, which is located immediately downstream from the Puffer’s Pond waterfall, is closed to vehicles. It’s been closed, in fact, since July, when state inspectors discovered that rust had compromised the integrity of the supporting beams. After the closing was announced, it took me about three weeks to remember not to use that road, and for a few months beyond that, it was interesting to watch as motorists blithely ignored the “Bridge Closed” signs only to have to make a U-turn when they reached the bridge some 50 feet later. Cars still take a run at it from time to time, but most of the locals know enough to navigate around the structure.

Being forced to take the detour has ruffled some feathers - and we’re talking about people, not the ducks or geese that frequent the pond. Some residents who live on the far side of the bridge (including folks from Leverett) are frustrated about this ongoing state of affairs since it means they can no longer use Mill Street to shorten their ride into town. Instead, they are now forced to loop back onto Route 63 up to Pine. I’m guessing, maybe, that’s a 10 minute detour. And while that doesn’t seem so taxing to me, to hear others tell it, the detour, in traffic, takes them more like half an hour out of their way. (This may be a bit of a stretch - since you can go end to end in Amherst in under half an hour - but I live on the “town side” of the bridge, so what do I know?)

It seems pretty clear that there is no money in the budget to fix the bridge (our town manager is reported to have said there are “two and a half or three and a half million reasons” why the bridge cannot be fixed).  Meanwhile, as some folks chew over what this indefinite bridge closing says about where North Amherst sits on the town’s priority list, and others continue to ignore signs about the bridge being closed (only to have to turn back), a most interesting thing is occurring on the bridge itself – or, more specifically, on the concrete barricades that now block off both ends of the bridge.

At least one person (and by now it may be more than one) has taken it upon herself to festoon the barricades with pine branches, garlands of berries, and other assorted natural decorations. I have to assume the goal is to soften the unsightly concrete barricades, to make them blend a little more with their surroundings. I’ve heard one neighbor express concern that hiding the barricades under pine might actually encourage motorists to plow right through, sending them crashing into the concrete, but between the warning signs and the wall of pine/concrete, you’d have to be pretty clueless/inebriated to continue anyway (a wall of pine/concrete should be as much of a deterrent as a wall of concrete).

Last week, I went to check out our “Bridge of Flowers” as it has been dubbed by some, and while it doesn’t come close to living up to its Shelburne Falls namesake, there is nonetheless something charming about the attempt to take the unsightly concrete and return it (if only just a little) to nature. You can still walk out on the bridge, and now that there's no traffic you can even linger for a time without stressing about being run over. If you plan on taking a trip over there, however, be careful about the ice near the waterfall side of the bridge – no one is treating the surface with sand/salt/gravel anymore, and when the spray from the waterfall hits the bridge in subfreezing temperatures, it forms a treacherous sheet of ice on the road.  Wear your stablicers/”ice cleats” - and if you bring a little garland to add to the scene, so much the better.  Of course, with tomorrow’s wind/rain nor’easter, it’s anyone’s guess whether any of the decorations will still be in place by the weekend.

Weather Advisory Extensions and the Sound of Ice

Ice on trees at Puffer's Pond - 12/17/2012

Today has been a study in weather advisory extensions.  As of this moment, the freezing rain advisory we've had since yesterday continues right through 2 am Tuesday. The temperatures really are supposed to rise out of their current state of hovering around freezing, but they are taking their sweet time going anywhere. Right now, in North Amherst, the temperature is 32.5, which is only about 2 degrees higher than it was four hours ago. The roads have been well treated, but side roads may be another story. Also, if it keeps drizzling like it’s supposed to over the next 3-4 hours, some of those surfaces will be refreezing.

At the same time, while no one loves freezing rain, it did paint a beautiful picture for most of the day – everywhere we looked, the trees and fields were brushed with silvery white. At one point, as I was walking (with my ice cleats) on a path near Puffer’s Pond, I suddenly heard a soft crackling/rustling sound all around me. Not able to identify what was causing it, I turned around a few times before realizing it was the sound of ice falling gently from all the tree branches at once. Apparently, exactly at that moment, the temperature outside must have climbed just high enough to melt the ever-so-thin casing of ice over everything and send countless tiny pieces shattering to the ground.

Afternoon of Light Freezing Rain and Potassium Soup

As I wrote yesterday, a few degrees lower, and we have a completely different forecast. Indeed, yesterday's forecast for today - rain with ice pellets - has morphed into an afternoon of on and off freezing rain, with some sleet and snow. We are under a weather advisory starting at noon today all the way through 9 am Monday. Precipitation will start out as light snow and then transition quickly to light freezing rain and sleet. The temperature, at 31.8 right now, should stay around that all day. Though accumulations are expected to be light, if you don't have to travel, so much the better. My plan is to stay in and make Potassium Soup (see our Weather Cooks page for the recipe) - how about you?

Ice Pellets in the Forecast (along with everything else)

As most of you will have heard by now, a nor’easter as well as a second storm behind that are on their way, bringing a whole mixed bag of weather over the next week, but probably not a lot of snow. Located as we are on a line between northern and southern New England (and different weather forecasts for each area), of course things could change, but for now it looks like snow, ice, rain, thunderstorms, and more rain. Tomorrow morning starts off with snow showers in the morning, rain/snow in the afternoon, and all rain by evening. The UMass weather station, which is a great go-to authority for our local forecast, is also predicting “ice pellets” tomorrow and tomorrow night. However, if the temperature drops even a few degrees lower than is being forecast, it could be an icy mess out there. By Tuesday, as the second storm rolls in, look for temps in the mid-50s, with the possibility of a thunderstorm. We may get a little snow/rain on Friday for Winter Solstice, but otherwise, a “white Christmas” seems unlikely, sorry to report.  But you never know – storms around here have a way of surprising us fairly often. I remember about 12 years ago entertaining some friends during a forecasted “no nothing” bit of weather that turned into a major ice storm – a fact we discovered only when our guests went to leave. So, keep a close eye on the weather this week, stay safe, and avoid ice pellets whenever possible.

Weather Networking

Head in the Clouds Amherst is now on Facebook and Twitter! Find us (and like us please!) on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. During weather-related power outages Twitter will be our primary avenue of communication. And come back to this page soon for new updates on our impending nor'easter, starting late tomorrow into Monday - and beyond.

Star Gazing by Smart Phone and Star Chart

Many years ago, while photographing variable stars at the Maria Mitchell Observatory on Nantucket, one of the many challenges we faced (after highly changeable “seeing” conditions and having to develop glass plates in utter and total darkness – no red lights allowed) was actually finding the precise point in the sky on which to fix the telescope. That probably seems odd to astronomers who work in the field today, but we had no computer to set the coordinates - it was all "right ascension and declination" and using math to figure out what point in the sky was where. We managed of course, but there was always a bit of anxiety involved. What if we got it wrong and spent three hours collecting images of the wrong star field?

It’s been decades since I’ve done anything similar, and although I know computers do much of that work now, I’ve never experienced it myself. So imagine my astonishment just now to discover an app on my phone (I’m also new to smart phones) that can immediately identify any object in the night sky that you point your phone at. I’d heard about this technology before now, of course, but seeing it was a whole other revelation. Jupiter floating onto my screen, with a view of the planet right behind it in the night sky, was, to me, nothing short of miraculous.  

If you have a smart phone yourself, give it a try. The “Sky Map” app I used, for android phones, is free. If you know others that work well, please let us all know about them by commenting to this post. And if you don’t have a smart phone, check out the “Night Sky” page on this blog for a minute-to-minute, constantly refreshing star chart. It may be old school, but it still tells the same story. And you don’t need any of these tools to enjoy the show tonight. Just go outside. The night is dark, and the sky is filled with stars – some of them appear stationary, and some (the meteors) are streaking across the sky.

Geminid Meteor Shower to Put On Spectacular Show Tonight

Astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi caught this Geminid meteor in 2009.

The upside to clear, blue, sunny days is clear, starry nights. And if you get a new moon on top of clear nights and a meteor shower on top of the dark moonless sky, you have a wonderful trifecta of star gazing opportunity. But beyond all that, tonight's show is shaping up to be no oridinary Geminid meteor shower. NASA is saying there’s a second possible meteor shower that could significantly boost the number of meteors on display. The source of the possible new shower is Comet 46P/Wirtanen. Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office says debris left in Wirtanen’s orbit might produce as many as 30 meteors per hour, added to the 100 meteors per hour from the Geminids. This is one meteor shower you don't want to miss!

Named for the constellation of Gemini, the Twins, the Geminids appear to emanate from a spot in the sky near the bright star Castor in Gemini. The constellation Gemini will begin to come up above the east-northeast horizon at nightfall. So you might even catch sight of a few early Geminids as soon as the sky gets dark. In addition to light streaking overhead, you may also spot "Earth-grazing" meteors, long, bright shooting stars that streak overhead from a point near the horizon. The Geminids will gather steam after 10 pm, peaking around 2 am, when the star Castor - the point the Gemids radiate from - will be passing almost directly overhead.

When the sky is dark (new moon) the Geminids tend to be among the most exciting of all the annual meteor showers. The Geminds have a reputation for being rich both in slow, bright, graceful meteors and fireballs as well as faint meteors. Many appear yellowish in hue. Some even appear to travel jagged or divided paths.

All that being said, you won't see much at all if you're too cold to stay outside for long. Dress more warmly than you think you need to, and bring along a thermos of something hot to drink. And if you're looking for a good viewing spot, I'm told that Cherry Hill often draws meteor shower watchers. So if you want company, head over there. But whatever you do, don't miss this one - there is nothing quite like a meteor shower to connect you to the vast universe beyond our tiny corner of the world.

Is That Sun We See?

The forecasters were predicting we would see sun by 9:00 am today, and sure enough, it's 9:04 as I write this, and the sun is breaking through the clouds. You might be startled at first, unsure about what is happening - it's been a while. And what's more, the sun is expected to hang on all day, giving way to a starry, clear night. As you ponder this new state of being, don't get too comfortable (this is New England, after all). A new storm threat is brewing for Sunday into Monday. It's too early to know where it is headed and what it will bring - right now the storm tracks are all over the place, with our area experiencing anything from all snow to all rain and everything in-between. For more on the possibilities for our upcoming storm, see Matt Noyes’ column, “The next Northeast storm threat...should bring at least some wintry weather.”

Regardless of what Sunday/Monday’s storm brings, forecasters are predicting a change in the weather pattern we’ve been having, which should deliver at least some snow around here in the near future.  Snow does seem to be flying all around us. Following fast on our reports about snow in Key West (ahem) and Colorado, we learned that Europe was buried in more snow than they could handle over the weekend – for more on that, see yesterday’s Spiegel Online article, “Heavy Snowfall: Winter Weather Brings Europe to a Standstill.” That report should perhaps be filed under “be careful what you wish for.”

But all that’s for another day. For now, look outside (or better yet, go outside) - the sun is shining! 

Crazy Dense Fog Tonight

We may not have snow yet, but we have been blanketed nevertheless. This past week has been - off and on - a study in varying amounts of fog, tonight's being the most dense yet. My drive back from Hartford after nightfall started out fine, but by the time I had arrived in North Amherst, the visibility was down to about 50 feet. Years ago in New Hampshire, I once found myself driving in fog that was so thick we literally couldn't see five feet in front of us and had to resort to opening the car door and navigating by the yellow line down the center of the road (also a handy trick in blizzard conditions). Tonight wasn't quite that bad, but it was starting to remind me of that time. It's one of those nights I feel blessed to be inside a brightly lit, warm house and not outside in the blanket of fog. For anyone traveling tonight, stay safe - and keep a good distance between you and anyone else on the road. The fog is forecast to let up later this evening, with rain until about 3 am. But by 9 am tomorrow, this will all be behind us and the sun will come out...finally.

It's Snowing in Colorado - Finally!

Elaine in the snow (photo by Dan Vardamis)

Dan demonstrating depth of snow
(photo by Elaine Vardamis)

Dan in snowy night
(photo by Elaine Vardamis)

For the folks partying in the “snow” in Key West (see our previous post), and for Amherst locals who are starting to forget what snow looks like after last year’s paltry showing, here’s some photos of the real thing, taken yesterday by Dan and Elaine Vardamis, who live high in the mountains of Nederland, Colorado. They’ve just had their first bona fide snowstorm of the season (even there it was late in coming), and apparently where there is snow, there is skiing – lots and lots of skiing!  

If you are planning a trip to Colorado and want to follow the latest snowfall forecasts, you will find incredible detail at Meteorologist Joel Gratz’s website, The Colorado Daily Snow. I am told that Joel is basically the skiers' local man in Boulder. He does daily updates, and has an array of snowfall charts to keep you occupied. And if you’re curious about how Dan and Elaine live when they’re not playing in the snow (hint: they spend A LOT of time in the snow) check out Dan and Elaine’s blog on skiing, hiking, and life in the mountains.

It's Snowing in Key West!

Video by John Nutting

Just about everyone loves snow, and apparently some people will go to unusual lengths to experience white stuff falling from the sky! I've never spent much time in Key West, but judging by my Facebook feed, this is a pretty unique, fun-loving community. And for those of you unfamiliar with Key West, it's located at the southernmost tip of the Florida keys - the lowest temperature ever recorded there was 41°F in 1886 and again in 1981. More commonly, in the coldest month, January, the average temperature is 70°F, with average highs of 76°F to 82°F. So if you want snow without leaving Key West, this would be the only way to get it!  Thanks for sharing, Kim and John.

First International Cloudspotters Conference

Los expertos afirman que observar las nubes es bueno para la salud

• Los expertos afirman que observar las nubes es bueno para la salud

"Experts at the First International Cloudspotters Conference in Spain

say that observing clouds is good for your health"

Just in case you thought you might be the only one fascinated by clouds in your circle of friends, it may interest you to learn that the first International Conference for Cloudspotters was held in October in Galicia, Spain. Though only 80 people attended this celebration of clouds, the Cloud Appreciation Society - which currently boasts more than 31,000 members from around the world (20,000 of whom are from the U.K and 4,700 from the U.S) - reports "there were talks throughout the weekend by experts in meteorology, photography, music, astronomy, and anthropology." One of the presenters, Marcos Alvarez Merinero from the European Space Agency, presented on the observation of clouds from Space, and "Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney, though unable to attend in person, was beamed up onto the screen via Skype to open the conference. He welcomed the gathering and enthused about the importance of cloudspotting and why it is good for the soul." 

The gathering in Spain was hardly the first of its kind. Only a few months earlier, this past July, the second International Cloud Festival - not to be confused with the first International Conference for Cloudspotters - was held in Sligo, Ireland. The first "International Cloud Festival" was also held in Ireland, which only makes sense when you consider how many cloudy days present themselves for observation in that part of the world. Indeed, "cloudspotting" seems to be quite popular across Ireland and the U.K. And there's a lot to recommend it - free fun for the whole family, endlessly changing scenery, numerous photo ops, and opportunities for dreaming, meditation, and exercising one's imagination (apparently some cloudspotters make an art of figuring out what different clouds look like). To read more about the October conference, see photos and some of the many Spanish media reports, click here: Spain's First International Conference for Cloudspotters. 

Mispredictions

Amherst has been shrouded in a thick fog all afternoon and evening, as the temperature and dew point have been hanging together around 46°F. The temperature is projected to climb into the low 50s by midnight, which should end the fog, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Nothing about this day is turning out as predicted by the professionals. At 9 am, with the “official” temperature listed at 44°F, my outdoor thermometer read 33°F – that’s more than a 10 degree difference! Could North Amherst be that much colder than the center of Amherst two miles south?  Seems highly unlikely. And did anyone actually experience that partially sunny day predicted on the “official” Weather Channel’s hour-by-hour rundown? And more to the point, what happened to the 57°F temps predicted for mid-day? Ultimately, the clouds never parted, the sun didn’t shine, the air didn’t heat up, and the temperature never got out of the mid-40s. As the fog wraps around the night, it’s hard to believe it will be “mostly sunny” tomorrow. The truth is, we just don’t know for sure. We may leave the house without an umbrella and get soaked. Or go on a scenic road trip and encounter walls of fog. But, ultimately, that’s part of what makes observing the weather so endlessly fascinating (especially around here). No matter how closely we observe or how expert we are, we are going to be wrong on a regular basis. And that’s a good thing – it keeps us humble, on guard, and frequently looking up and admiring the scenery.

Just Wait

The start of the weekend - Saturday morning, 12-1-2012

"If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes." This maxim of New England life - attributed to Mark Twain and repeated over the years by countless residents and travelers - has been on full display this weekend in Amherst. Saturday morning started out snowing lightly and colder than normal, moved into rain later in the day, and changed to freezing drizzle over night (leading to patches of black ice last night and this morning), which became freezing fog this morning. By late morning Sunday the temperature had climbed above freezing, and it is projected to continue to climb, right up to a downright balmy 50° F by mid-afternoon. It will be clear for a few hours after that, with showers starting by evening. We recently learned that variations of "if you don't like the weather" exist in other regions across the country, but we're betting the saying originated here, in weather just like we're having now.  As Mark Twain also said, in his "Weather Speech" delivered in 1876, "there is a sumptuous variety about the New England weather that compels the stranger's admiration -- and regret. The weather is always doing something there; always attending strictly to business; always getting up new designs and trying them on the people to see how they will go."

To see how all this weather is affecting our dog walker, as well as our dog Kelvin, see today's "Walkin' Kelvin" entry on the right sidebar of our home page.