Of skating, snow and sun dogs: winter scenes in the Moriches

The recent spate of intense cold and snow has brought delays, frustration, and inconvenience as we continue to dig out and watch for signs of weather events on the horizon. Yet the potential record-breaker winter has also brought some unexpected beauty, and with it, some scenes to enchant, delight, and mystify residents lucky enough to see them.

Skaters and informal ice hockey games returned, cautiously, to Kalers Pond, East Moriches, and East Pond in Eastport., as community members weighed in on Facebook, reminiscing about the fun times of their youth and the need for caution in the present, while CMFD’s “No Ice Is Safe Ice” message was unambiguous in its recommendation.

Jan. 25 brought more snow than we’d seen in years and with it, biting cold temperatures. On Jan. 28, the appearance of a mid-afternoon sun dog briefly slowed traffic on Sunrise Highway as some commuters pulled over to gaze at the halo encircling the sun.

Stephen Schwartz, member of Stony Brook University’s School of Atmospheric and Marine Sciences, explained that the haloes are not uncommon in the winter sky and are due to light scattering off ice crystals. “They’re well recognized in the atmospheric optics literature. There is a famous painting of such haloes over Stockholm dating from the 1500s.”

Named for Swedish “Vadersol,” or weather sun, sun dogs occur when “sunlight is refracted by hexagonal crystals forming cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. In order for a full circle to appear, sun rays must be reflected both internally and externally.”  (“Vadersolstavlon.” En.wikipedia.org)

The painting Schwartz mentioned, “Vadersolstavian,” or “The Sun Dog painting” by Urban Malare, is a landscape painting of medieval Stockholm and considered the oldest depiction of this atmospheric phenomenon.

Sun dogs have also been used as part of the Screen Gems logo on films produced in Hollywood.

Early in the painting’s existence, viewers were given to ascribe to it portents for political, religious, and social implications, some of which were frightening, indeed. Today, with greater understanding of science and weather conditions, we can simply marvel at the sight as it lingers above us.

Finally, we had conditions cold enough to freeze seawater around our coast, extending well up into creeks, where gulls rested among dock pilings.

The same principles that make salt an excellent choice for brining roads and ridding surfaces of snow and ice usually prevent the bay from freezing.  According to NASA’s public education website Aquarius, “salt causes water to freeze at a lower temperature. Sea ice forms only under very cold conditions (e.g., near the Earth’s poles) because of its salinity.” Fresh or saltwater, the cold froze them both.

And there you have it. This year’s polar blast offered fresh perspectives, and ever more opportunities to complain, experience, learn, and talk, about the weather.