Thursday, February 11, 2010

View Through Icicles

Above is the view from my upstairs bathroom window this morning. It isn't usual for large icicles like these to develop on the north side of the house , but the warmer temperatures, rain and freezing rain that we've experienced at times over the past couple of weeks have created perfect conditions for icicles. Unfortunately, their presence also suggests the possibility of ice dams on the roof which can lead to water back-up and infiltration through the shingles. Hopefully the new roofs most of us got following the big hailstorm of 2006 will be able to stand up to it.

The photo below was taken through the frost crystals that developed on the lower part of the storm window last night in the sharply colder temperatures (my desktop weather icon reads -7 F. as I write). What looks like the sun is actually a lamp on a utility pole in the backyard; its color is refracted (if that's the right word) through the frost and adds to the actual sunrise pink in the sky to give the appearance that the whole sky is glowing from an oddly-placed northeasterly sun. The lamp is barely visible through the central icicle in the top photo.

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4 comments:

Christopher Tassava said...

Very cool photos! Like looking out the mouth of some sort of dragon...

Janet said...

Neat! That's the kind of photo I will likely never get to take!

MojoMan said...

Icicles and ice dams are often signs of heat loss into the attic. You might want to evaluate your insulation, ventilation and air-sealing.

Dawn Fine said...

I love these icicle images..Really cool! i mean cold!