In The Spirit of January

For those who complain about the heat during summer - hope you're enjoying winter so far!

I (Jesse) am passionate about summer. I want July in Death Valley year-round. Think 128 degrees, like it was on July 18 last year. But truth be told I am intrigued by weather extremes; hot or cold, wet or dry. I think one of the most interesting places on Earth is a place most will never travel anywhere near. Antarctica.

Antarctica is covered 98% by ice that is on average 1 mile thick. It's the coldest place on Earth (-128.6°F) with wind chills often reaching below -200°F thanks to winds that frequently blow above hurricane force. It's so cold there that carbon dioxide precipitates out of the air, "snowing" dry ice which freezes at -109°F. Ironically, the continent is a desert and one of the driest places on Earth. At the major research facility of Vostok Station, the average annual precipitation is less than 1 centimeter. Antarctica is currently in the middle of its summer. The high temperature today...(-14°F). And that was with the help of 24 hours of sunlight there today. In fact, the sun has not set there since October 20, 2009. The warmest day on record (since 1957) was 10°F.

But you don't care and you surely would rather be reminded of warm places at a time like this. You're probably thinking palm trees and beaches. So was I today.

Like 90% of the country, we here in Virginia Beach are experiencing the coldest week of the season and perhaps in years. We topped out at 31 today, with chills in the mid-teens. I can hear those of you north of the Mason-Dixon line laughing at our "balmy" situation. Antarctica hears your complaining! What's more sad is that we HAVE palm trees, beaches, and seagulls here. Those are REALLY confusing sights on a day like today!

But I saw today as an opportunity. I have been to the beach here (the beach we live 10 miles away from) 3 times since we moved here in September. That's sad. So I figured, why not go out on the coldest day of the year! Sounds harmless for a city with the word 'Beach' in it. I loaded up my camera and put on about 3 layers of winter gear. I was ready. Needless to say, Stace stayed home :)

So here are the beach and palm trees you were wishing for.


Annnnnnd, it's frozen!




I found out later that you can climb to the top of the lighthouse on the right. I will have to do that next time (and take Stace with me).


Windsurfers! I wasn't the craziest person out there today.


I saw 12 of these cargo ships anchored just off the beach in Chesapeake Bay.



Oh, you were thinking more like Miami Beach?? Well, it only reached 48 there today (and set a record low of 36 this morning). Shucks. Only 161 days until summer!

If this blog has been a little depressing, revisit it in July when you're complaining about the heat (and blame Stace for giving me access to the blog). Death Valley in July doesn't sound so bad anymore, does it? Happy January!