• Friday-What'sUP February 4 - 03:21 pm

Folks have remarked about the lack of ice along Lake Superior's shores this winter, so far, but it sure looks like Greta Jones has found some. Since it's freshly covered with snow, it's hard to tell where the actual shoreline ends and the ice begins, but using that leaning tree as a gauge, I'd say there's more than a couple feet of it. Kind of looks like those branches are trying to reach out over the floe, so they can get to the water...

Remember one week from today, the eyes of the world will be on Sherman Field at Michigan Tech, where about 3,000 of us are needed to break some world's records related to snow... The biggest snowball, the most snow angels, and the biggest snowball fight. Michigan Tech will provide a free souvenir for everyone who participates. Hope we have plenty of fresh new snow!

Mornin' all. Thank God it's Friday. Nice picture!

Pretty picture! I hope you have plenty of new snow, too, for next week when the 3 world records are broken at Michigan Tech.

Looks like another great opportunity for pictures. This one is beautiful

Speaking of records, and snow, I saw this big snowman in yesterday's Earth Science Picture of the Day.
http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=287360

I was in Marquette last weekend and as I was driving along the lake superior shoreline on M-28 west of Munising I realized that the typical ice buildup on shoreline was virtually non-existant !! Usually this stretch of shoreline has huge ice chunks and walls of ice built up from the winter of splashing and freezing. Whats up? Global warming? Mild winter? Less precipitation? all of the above? I think I just saw somewhere that January temps were some of the HIGHEST average temps ever for the UP. I know here here the LP where i am we havent even had a temp below 10 degrees yet. Weird.

Awesome picture, great photo gallery!

jeffkal,about global warming,USA is the only developed country that does not recognize global warming offically.Everywhere else in the world it is considered now to be a fact of life.The only debate is to what may have caused it,humans or just a natural earth cycle. Was just reading an article about small fishing villages around the world all reporting the fish that had been fished in these different villages for hundreds of years are now disappearing,another intersting article in National Geographic about snow disappearing in the Alps,say may be gone in less than one hundred years!

Jeffkal...it's very noticeable even down here along the Texas coast. I've heard comments from locals that they've never seen the water level along the beaches this low in they're lives. When are the folks in D.C. going to take their heads out of the sand, so to speak. Or where ever their heads are.

I heard a discussion on NPR about chloroflurohydrocarbons being related to global warming. Also referred to as CFCs, they apparently contribute to the destruction of the Ozone, which in turn, prevents the earth from being protected by this special atmospheric layer. One of CFCs uses is as a propellant for products inside spray cans. I read that most countries have banned any product containing CFCs, but the U.S. has "phased" them out of production. This means they are still being used until the specific date prohibiting their use arrives. This gives companies "time" to alter their products without losing a lot of money. Has anyone heard of the principle of "Gaia"? It's the theory that the earth fights back when threatened. The recent hurricane season a case in point. Could be that the usual snow in the U.P. is merely "delayed" this year? Remember the snowstorm of 1979? It happened in late March! On a brighter note, there are storms coming onto the left coast which should bring y'all some snow for your world record attempts! Currently here where I live the daffodils are blooming and trees opening their spring buds.

I hear Europe is having one of the coldest winters in a long time. So what's with that?

Rowdy -
This is a weird winter. Here in UPstate NY we've been treated to a white Thanksgiving and a green Christmas. My wife gave me snowshoes for Christmas. I've been able to use them twice since.
Heck, even Hawaii has had more snow than Rochester.
Check this out: http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=7382
Now that is weird.

Before we start a 'sky is falling' panic, it's a fact that the earth goes through normal warming and cooling cycles. If any of us could hang around long enough we'd see another ice age in a few thousand years or so. I often wonder why we hear the alarmists only during warmer than usual weather; when we do have periods of deep freeze or colder than normal, everyone just complains about their heating bills.

Rowdy: Paradoxically, an effect of global warming would be colder winters in Europe. They are warmed by the Gulf Stream. I forget the exact details, but global warming would alter ocean currents including the Gulf Stream.

Ah another snow pic. Lovely. No snow here in the mountains of WV. Almost 60 degrees now. At least your pics remind us of what it looks like! I grew up in UPstate NY and my relatives report a very weird winter also....Quick question for anyone. I look at the Portage Canal Lift Bridge cam everyday. Is the camera located on the Houghton side or the Hancock side? Also, what is the name of the motel that I see there? AND last but not least, I always see a horde of snowmobilers every day. Where are these guys going or what do they do? Just curious. Thanks!

Our warm weather is due to the jetstream being far north in a straight line as opposed to the normal wavy pattern farther south for a typical winter.

Ms. Katie: Amen

Beautiful pic. Looks so peaceful!

Dotti-
The camera is on the Hancock side. The motel in the lower right corner is the Ramada Inn. Not sure if you're referring to the snowmobilers at the motel or elsewhere, but the Ramada has a restaurant and bar that are usually pretty full during snowmobile season. The motel is right on the trail so it's very convenient.

Hey David Sandretto,It is a fact that the earth goes thru many heat cool cycles.The thing that causes some alarm is that the there has never been any evidence to show that the earth has ever warmed so quickly in such a short time period.The ice cores that have been taken show that such a warm up normally takes around 1000 years to what we have seen in about 150 years. Why we only hear people complain in winter is because that is when they are affected most.I have friends that farm citrus in south america and they complain much about the increase in drought over the past 50 years.Other people who complain about it are those that make their living from the reefs in the ocean,disappearing fast under rising ocean levels.As for why,man or nature nobody knows,but there seems to be a parallel with industrial revolution.No?

The Big Guy upstairs is much more in control of the weather than any of us are.
We give ourselves too much credit.

According to the guy who I think is the UP's Greatest Treasure, Karl Bohnack of Channel 6 in Marquette, January was the warmest since records have been kept, 11.6 degrees higher than average. What bugs me the most is that in the early 70's when I started XC skiing I could wax my skis in late October and not have to change it until late March or early April. Now I am re-waxing almost every time I go out.

As a rule
Man's a fool.
When it's hot
he wants it cool.
When it's cool
he wants it hot.
He always want's it
what it's not.

Wooo-hoo, Sharon's camera just caught a wave!!!

Rowdy - I agree with your poem completely!

I didn't think this forum was supposed to get political on the main page anymore. The Ted Kennedy vs. Barry Goldwater stuff is supposed to be on the "What's Up" section, I thought.

Down here in St. Clair Shores, for the month of January, we only had a dusting of snow that melted completely by noon in 24 hours. I have not had to shovel once since December, which I cannot ever remember in my life in Michigan. I am concerned the flowers are going to bloom and the trees will bud and then we will get hammered with snow.

How's the snow depth in the Eagle Harbor/Copper Harbor area? I am looking for an excuse to come up there.

SORRY !
didnt mean to start a war, just was wondering in you lucky yoopers thought it had been warm.

Regarding warming: What's most important is to realize is that
there is an increase in the overall energy in the system, therefore
the range of possibilities is greater.. This doesn't mean that
everywhere is going to get warmer. What it does mean is that the
swings are going to be more extreme, witness the hurricane
season. Some places could be not just colder, but a lot colder.
Some places could be not just hotter, but a lot hotter. The
people in the District of Confusion, are just that-- confused by big
money. Sorry to vent, but when will they see the big picture?
Remember: Mother Nature always bats last, and she's never lost a
game.

Roudy: LOL!
And yes, it's quite cold here (Germany). Occasionally, every now and then, we'll get our winter weather not from the west, as is common, but from the east, which means cold air out of Russia. Last time it happened was some 27-28 yrs ago, and I recall frozen "Glühwein" in the glasses of my parents at New Year's Eve (that stuff's supposed to be hot).
Doesn't mean this world isn't currently heating up a little.