Saturday, January 29, 2022 – Today it’s all about snow! Venturing out in today’s blizzard simply isn’t going to happen, but as I have a big archive of snowy photos taken in southern Maine, I’m sharing those with you.
Most were taken close to home: in Kennebunk, scenes around Kennebunkport, the harbor at Cape Porpoise, and at Laudholm Farm (Wells Reserve at Laudholm).
Beaches in Winter
People often ask if there is snow on the beach, or if the ocean ever freezes over.
Even after a heavy snowstorm, you can still walk on the beach. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult getting onto the sand, due to snowdrifts, or snowbanks left by plows. The incoming tide melts any snow on the beach or washes it away, so there’s usually sand to walk upon once the tide goes out.
One New Year’s Eve, I was on Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport with friends, and the beach was covered with a layer of ice. It was also painfully cold, so our New Year’s celebration lasted about five seconds after the clock struck midnight.
If it’s cold enough – for long enough – the sea may freeze along the shoreline. It did so along parts of the New England coast in 2018, courtesy of exceptionally cold weather due to Storm Grayson’s bomb cyclone.
Just bundle up because it feels a lot colder on the beach than inland, even if it’s supposedly the same temperature.
Freezing Seawater
Interesting factoid: According to Maine Audubon, “seawater freezes at about 28.4° F (-2° C), because of the salt in it. When seawater freezes, however, the ice contains very little salt because only the water freezes. It can be melted down and used as drinking water.”
A few links…
FMI about Goat Island Lighthouse: https://www.kporttrust.org/islands-lighthouse
FMI about Wells Reserve: https://www.wellsreserve.org/
An interesting article about iceberg-like boulders washing up on the beaches of Cape Cod, MA. (You may have to subscribe to view it) HERE
From brobible,com comes an article with several vids after the deep freeze of January 2018. HERE
And if you ever want to see the wind in action, there’s a cool wind map, in real time, HERE. Check out their gallery of still shots of the map during major weather events such as hurricanes.
All photographs and the content is by Geraldine Aikman, Kennebunk, Maine. All content is my personal observations and opinions. If I have written an incorrect name or location, feel free to comment or contact me!
http://www.aikmandesign.com/
I don’t think those are cherries, but rather crabapples. There are native hawthorns here in Connecticut, too, although I haven’t found them myself. It is obvious how cold it is in the Laudholm images!