Icequakes

Last night we were sitting watching TV as we usually do.  It was another cold cold night, but we were toasty warm in the house.  We all sit in different rooms because we all enjoy different shows.  Suddenly there was a loud boom that shook the house.  Mike and I both ran into the room where my dad sits.  I asked if he heard it and he did.  It sounded like our deck had fallen off or something big slid off the roof.  So my husband bundled up, took his flashlight and went outside to investigate.  He looked all around the house to see if anything seemed wrong.  He couldn't find anything amiss so he came inside.  We didn't think much about it again until this morning.  One of the weathermen from Green Bay said that big booms and vibrations were being reported from the Fond du lac area and Green Lake County.  He said that they were called "icequakes".  It happens when pockets of ground water which normally stay liquid become frozen in extreme cold.  When water freezes, it expands, sometimes to the point of cracking.  It makes sense but I wasn't familiar with this.  If I had heard this sound before, I didn't know what it was.  I thought it may have been in the very deep spring fed pond we have.  It usually doesn't freeze over but I hadn't checked during the extreme temperatures from the days before.  I decided to check it out this morning, but there was open water.  The temperature had warmed up a little to -1 degrees F.  Later in the day we heard that many people around town and in the area also heard the boom and vibration.  We have no idea the exact location.  Maybe it was many locations, and it could happen again.

At -1 degrees we have open water on our spring fed pond.

This cold weather is very bad for many people.  It is difficult for people who work outside or those who are homeless.  One of our deer can't stand on her back leg.  I don't know if it was too cold to stand on all fours, or if she is injured in some way.  I hope she gets better soon.

She can't put weight on her back right foot.

There is a lot of beauty too.  Not everything about this polar vortex is horrible.  These are photos I took of a frozen waterfall a few miles from us in Montello Wisconsin.

These frozen waterfalls sure look cold, but beautiful.

Waterfall in Montello Wisconsin with the ducks hunkered down next to the open water.