February 5, 2023: Hockey in a Polar Vortex

I feel sorry for the hockey players.  This winter has been so warm that Meredith Bay still hasn't frozen over, so the New England Pond Hockey tournament, which brings players from all over the county, was moved from Lake Winnipesaukee to Lake Waukewan.

26 rinks of cold fun on Lake Waukewan.

And then, on the weekend of the event, we get the coldest weather of not only the year, but near all-time record cold.  Saturday morning it was -17 degrees in Meredith, not our coldest ever seen, but cold enough, and with the wind it felt like 44 degrees below zero.  The start of the games on Saturday was delayed until noon when the temperature had warmed up to -1, though with Waukewan exposed to the northwest winds, the wind chill was still a cool -25 degrees, but the games went on.

Some of the action on Saturday afternoon.

They shorted the length of the games from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, but some teams had to play two games in a row - these are some tough folks.

With the delayed start, I bet the restaurants and bars were busy late into Friday night!

Mount Washington was of course the coldest spot in the state, and perhaps on the continent if you factor in wind chill.  I watched the temperature drop all day on Friday, falling to a low of -46.2 Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -108.  

Wind speeds and temperatures recorded Friday on Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington even made the national news yesterday; you can listen to (or read) a report on the record-setting conditions on the summit and what caused them here.

I didn't get out for more than a few minutes at a time on Friday or Saturday, but I did get a quick hike in on Wednesday when the cold weather was just forming. The air mass coming down from Canada was already pushing in very dry air with dew points down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit, ushering in those cobalt blue skies.

Red Hill Fire Tower.

And from the summit of Red Hill I could see large areas of open water in Lake Winnipesaukee.

Someone asked me about bears during this cold snap.  (This person had a surprise, up close and personal meeting with a bear while trail running, and now thinks about bears a lot!)  With such a short cold spell and good snow cover, I think all the ground dwelling animals like bears and foxes will be just fine because the ground is still warm and the frost has barely penetrated the earth.  I worry more about the deer and the tree dwellers like birds and squirrels.  On the coldest days the squirrels were nowhere to be seen, but the birds were at the feeders.

The birds spent a lot of time taking in calories on Saturday.

Birds can lose up to 10% of their body weight burning energy to keep warm through a single cold night, so they need to consume food every day.  Perhaps the squirrels do better in their nests insulated with leaves, curled up into small balls with their thick furry tails wrapped around them.  Still, with those temperatures and winds it must be pretty hard on them.  

I expect the mourning doves have been around all winter but I first saw them last week during the snow storm, the two of them puffed up in an oak tree keeping warm.

Mr. and Mrs. Mourning Dove

The world may be cold, but it sure is pretty.

The trail up to Red Hill.