Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Winter Wonders Of a Below Zero Sunrise

This is not what you want to wake up to, as my son did yesterday (the bottom temperature is the outside temperature.)

This is -30.8 C, for those outside the United States.

Only the brave throw back the colors to face the day without complaint, when your thermometer reads that low.  In upstate New York, we wonder at people who deal with these temperatures for much of the winter, and admire them.  Then we go back to complaining about the weather.

At my house, it was only -8 F (-22 C).  It hasn't been that cold for us, we figure, in about 15 years.
The birds were singing, as I took a picture of the sunrise.  Birds singing in the early morning is one of the first signs of spring.  At this time of year, bright sunshine usually comes only with ice cold temperatures.  The birds know something we don't know - yet.

Streaks were in the air, as the sun appeared.
Smoke does funny things in the below zero air (this picture taken on a different below zero day).

Spring, right now, is invisible.  But soon, sap will start to flow in the trees again.  The tips of their branches will glow with a bright red.  If we are fortunate, we will have a good maple syruping season as March progresses.

But for now, the only signs of spring are those singing birds.

The rest of nature is still locked in ice and snow.

One day it will be spring, but not just yet.

What is your weather like today?

4 comments:

  1. Alana,
    Signs of spring have been emerging here in Nebraska, too. Folks are uber grumpy; shoppers at Wal-Mart cluster around the seed displays; everybody is hungry for greens and fresh fruit; and yes, a few songbirds have been passing through. Every time I'm outside and hear that sweet sound--a wild bird singing--I pause and savor the thought of warmer weather. Our weather has been bitter cold, too, but this morning it's already 30 degrees. But tonight's low is 5, so we're not packing the woolies away just yet.

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  2. I love your photos. And I hope you didnt venture out into the cold for too long to take those! Stay warm..

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  3. Hi Alana,

    Great post! Always enjoy reading :) There are some beautiful wonders of a below zero sunrise......thank you for sharing!

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  4. Those rhododendrons don't look too happy in your photo. The coldest I remember growing up was -20: the only time Johnson Ciy closed schools because of cold. Not out of concern for us students, but because half the bus fleet was frozen.
    Ray

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