Please e-mail
Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu
Vol. 2, no. 47, Tuesday, November 25, 1997
Quick jumps: | This week's reports | Informal plot of Nov.5 local earthquake intensity | |Prior weekly Nature reports | Prior Black fly reports |
You are invited to report on any aspect of Nature in Maine
Please e-mail
Frank Wihbey, Editor: menature@maine.maine.edu
This week's reports
Report format = Day, date, [time]. Location (Maine Atlas Map number) Report text. Initials of correspondent.
Thursday, November 20. Orono (Map 23) Temperature this
morning was in the twenties. A light fog hung in the air. As I walked to work I noticed
that leaves on the ground -- those on bare pavement as well as those on the thin snow
cover, had a rime of frost delicately covering every exposed edge, but not the exposed
surface. (Undersides did have a thin layer of frost.) Even more absorbing was the sight on
the branches, twigs, and buds of trees -- all of which were covered with zillions of
nearly evenly spaced tiny 1/3" ice spikes. This ice formation occurred on any
singularity exposed to the cold fog, probably similar to the process that forms snow
crystals.
The needleleaf trees had thin rime ice, but not the spikes. Extended surfaces had no frost
at all, except for the boards in the "windows" in the wind screen on the Main
Street bridge, where the air was very moisture-saturated. These window boards, exposed
directly to the River air, had masses of thin crystals with rounded tops, all uniformly
about 1/4" tall, so closely spaced they looked like a continuous layer. Upon close
observation one saw this was actually an array of tiny perfection. F.W.
Saturday, November 22. Bangor (Map 23) A Fisher was seen at night in a Bangor yard. J.K.M.
Sunday, November 23. Orono (Map 23) These tracks were seen in the snow in Orono woods: White-tailed Deer, Ermine, Vole, Shrew, Deer Mouse, Red Squirrel, Ruffed Grouse. J.K.M.
Tuesday, November 25. Orono (Map 23) Except for some very large scattered leads with open water, the Stillwater River is now frozen from bank to bank with thin ice. F.W.