11 January 2024
Just a few days in the past I used to be lamenting that we weren’t having a snowy iciness, neither snow nor snowy owls. Smartly, watch out what you ask for! A couple of days of sour chilly are coming to Pittsburgh subsequent week. If Lake Erie freezes, arctic gulls will fly south to search out open water at the rivers. The photograph above displays some chilly and satisfied birders having a look at uncommon gulls on the Level in January 2015.
So what are the possibilities this may occasionally occur subsequent week?
As of this morning, the forecasted low temperature for break of day on Wednesday 17 January is 9°F. This map for subsequent Monday positive seems like we’re in a “polar vortex.” Chilly, proper?
However will or not it’s chilly lengthy sufficient to freeze Lake Erie and ship the gulls south? Almost certainly now not. The jap Nice Lakes ice map as of the day before today, 10 Jan 2024, displays just about 100% open water (white).
There’s now not even a touch of ice (blue) on maximum of Lake Erie and the Nice Lakes ice-to-date graph for iciness 2023-24 signifies that ice is at a close to document low. There’s a large number of cooling off to do ahead of the lakes will freeze.
So subsequent week I’ll need to put on my Minnesota tools to move outdoor nevertheless it’s not likely there can be any peculiar birds available in the market. Will I need to move out in 9°F anyway? I’ll have to attend and notice.
(credit are within the cations)