Sounds of river ice

First, let's get the still photo out of the way. The river ice here at Huntington WV is nowhere near as bad as it is farther up the river. And my camera battery decided it doesn't like working very hard in cold weather, thank you very much.

So, my attempts to get some pictures of the ice during daylight were not that great. But this evening, coming down Route 2 just below old Lock and Dam 27, the orange light of dusk showed what it could do with light river ice in the hands of an expert photographer. Or in my hands, as they were the only ones available.

Earlier in the day, I watched the M/V Louise S pass the mouth of the Guyandotte River. I was about to give up getting anything until I heard the sound its wake made as it pushed the sheet ice along the shore up and down. You know those videos where people skip rocks on a frozen lake? I heard something like that.

Here's an iPhone video of how it sounded. You can hear the Louise S engine sounds, but the ice grinding sounds are pretty cool.

If my first attempt to load video to this blog failed, you can try this link to YouTube.

The Weather Service says we should have one more night of brutal cold tonight, then warmer weather moves in tomorrow (Sunday). The way I figure, we should be just about thawed out when the electric and water bills arrive.