Heavy Rime Ice

On the advisement of a friend, I took a ride up to Clinton Lake in Dewitt County to check out an area that is unfrozen. The heated discharge from the Clinton Nuclear Power Plant enables a vast stretch of water to remain open and is a haven for wildlife as well as fog phenomena. On the morning I visited it was blustery with an air temperature of 17°F and a wind chill of 11°F. Skies were overcast and the steam was not spinning up into giant spouts like what my friend observed a day before when conditions were ideal. Regardless, there was much to see including heavy Rime Ice forming due to a constant stream of moisture blowing against all exposed surfaces that was by far the thickest I have ever seen.



Distant eagle and a few gulls.


Brief time lapse video of the fog riding up and over a weak thermal boundary as result of wind break behind and to the right, note the downstream build up of rime ice.


Now downwind of the video location and in direct shot of the wind coming off the lake, the passing geese were having a very difficult time.


Looking into the fog, the wind was brutal.


Now back at a more sheltered location.






Breakfast to go!




and another but it was not so lucky on this attempt...






Skies would clear momentarily and give me something to work with.




What a difference the light makes!