The day following the snow storm was windy and cold, but the
sun came out and made it look warm. Snow
played just a minor role in the recent storm.
The only uniform snow covering was in the cedar thickets where the
strong winds couldn’t penetrate. Not
enough to impede walking, the snow was just enough to let you know it was truly
a winter day.
The transformation from a rainy 60 degrees to snowy 20’s was
rough on the soil. Soil particles were
pushed up several inches on rapidly forming columns of ice. With temperatures fluctuating from daytime
40’s to overnight 20’s, frost heave has been an almost constant event this
year.
Water table is at its maximum levels and the creek keeps
gurgling along. These conditions
normally foretell fish traveling far up the creek during the spring spawning
runs. That often spells disaster for the
creek breeding salamanders.
Two days of below freezing temperatures is enough to create
some impressive ice formations. Surface
water trickling down exposed roots can build thick icicles. Roots trailing in the water form wide feet at
the water’s surface.
The deciduous woods was pretty well blasted by the
wind. Much of the snow is hidden in the
leaf litter.
In the wind shadow of the cedars, snow caught on the leaves
of the Big Bluestem and gave the illusion of a deep accumulation. Where wind made it to the grass, the snow
disappeared down to ground level.
I found the tracks of a big dog on one of the trails. There are only two animals in Ohio
The pond quickly froze over, but the area fed by
intermittent springs remains open. This
water is heavily visited by birds and other animals during cold weather. The variety of visitors grows with each cold
day. So far this year, icy conditions
haven’t lasted more than a few days, so the number of animals searching for
open water has been low.
