Can you imagine walking those icy stairs? That is at the base of Niagara Falls with the huge plume of mist rising and falling to make that ice. Take a look at these images  and also the ones on rime fog. It is weather conditions that you probably won’t see for yourself first hand. Travel to Niagara Falls in winter to see the trees in ice and you just might see these sites. We are not even in winter yet, but local media has given November in social media the hashtag #Snowvember.

I love the new commercial from Jeep. It says,”The way we see it after a heavy snowfall, you have two options. You can stay inside or get behind the wheel of a new Grand Cherokee.” Having a Grand Cherokee Overland, you all know which option I take!

I just had to show you the cold, snowy weather we got before Thanksgiving to get you in the mood for a warm fireside moment. But don’t toss those logs on the fire quite yet!

By the time these images are posted, we have a balmy 66° day here in the Falls (yes, you read that right), melting all that you see. That makes me sad. I took these images on Friday, except those on rime fog at the end of the post which are from January 2014. Once the rain comes, the world around Niagara looks rather brown, bland and blah. The rain is falling as I type, the puddles forming, wind blowing hard, and the muddy landscape a slippery mess. Nothing as interesting as the artistic ice in this post. Just a yucky mess, although no major flooding as of yet in Buffalo.

In amongst the icy trails on Friday, the trees have a certain beauty even if they are gnarled with broken branches. I watch these same trees each winter and wonder how they live from year to year. One crabapple tree I followed for many years was a casualty, not of the treacherous winters it endured, but was removed for new landscaping.

To see what this crabapple looks like all erect… see Ice is Both Beauty and the Beast

Honestly, I would have saved that particular tree if our company had won that state contract. We almost did too. The grower at the tree farm forgot to submit his check with the proposal and because of that, lost a very lucrative job, lasting many years. I no longer work with this landscaper. We learned later, that we were low bidder and got disqualified. Oh, crap happens I guess…. not everything is a walk through the forest with bluebirds carrying daisies in their beaks and crapping chocolate kisses.

Now for a weather condition you don’t see often, but those of us near the Great Lakes do from time to time in extremely cold, arctic-like weather. I believe it is called rime fog, and it really is not typical fog, at least in the way we normally see fog. The fog consists of ice crystals suspended in air, generated and rising from the warm water to the frigid air forming the cloud of fog. “The term “freezing fog” may also refer to fog where water vapor is super-cooled, filling the air with small ice crystals similar to very light snow.” (source Wikipedia) Freezing fog usually happens in colder climates than ours or at higher elevation. Just so happens, last winter was very cold here.

With the polar vortex, we got cold weather early like we are getting this year. It brings along very cold air which like lake effect snow, the cold air forms a fog of ice crystals when the cold air hits the warmer river in this case. It looks like smoke on the water or steam rising off the water and gives the landscape a very eerie feel.

Have a look because this happened in -15° weather in January 2014. Click through and chatter your teeth!

Oh, you gotta see more. No fair you are so cozy out of the snow, rain and wind!