Deep Clear Freeze #14665

The Story

This new crystal clear ice from a hard freeze let me see all the oak leaves entombed below the surface in detail, evidence of a quick hard freeze that went down to the bottom here in the shallows at the lake edge. There had been very low temperatures in the teens for a few days. A strong steady wind drove the cold ever more frigid with wind chills below zero during the daylight hours.

There was snow lying in sweeping parallel bands across the frozen surface that didn’t move. Like everything else, it was solidly frozen into place.

This section of the lake was frozen solid down to the bottom. The only leaves above the surface are along the bottom of the image. Everything else is down under the freeze line, waiting for the Spring thaw. Coming back the next day, I found the ice unclear and varied in opacity, sometimes to nearly white. Snow laid randomly in large areas, not in striated lines as seen here.

Mother Nature had changed everything once again.

Location: Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania