suns along the Mohawk

My plan to leisurely put this new weblog together this week had to be shelved, once I saw that the Mohawk River went from flowing freely with a few ice floes at noon yesterday, March 8, 2009, to a total ice jam — with “ice banks” — by the end of the afternoon.  Here are a few photos, and a comparison shot or two for perspective.

 follow-up: This posting was just the first of many photo events involving Mohawk River ice jams. When finished here, please check out: Jamming on the Mohawk : ice floes and jams along the Mohawk River near the Schenectady Stockade” (5th Edition, 22 pages). It has icy images from the winters of 2009 through 2019, along the Stockade section of the Mohawk and in Riverside Park.

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ice jam – riverside esplanade looking east

Normally, there is a drop off of two or three feet from the park lawn and esplanade to the River. Compare the above view with this shot, taken the morning of the Dec. 12, 2008 ice storm:

ice storm (Dec. 12, 2008)

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. . . . The next two views are from my favorite Riverside Park bench, across from the Isle of the Cayugas and Scotia, NY.

view from Riverside Park bench near Wash. Ave. (March 8, 2009)

This is one of my favorite spots for sunset shots.  Yesterday evening, the clouds were too thick to allow any sunset hues:

compare with this photo from earlier this winter:

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compare (March 15, 2008)

Here’s a view this morning, March 9, from my backyard.  The usual drop-off to the River is gone, as the ice and water rise to the level of the lawn.

Another look from the Riverside Park esplanade, looking west:

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And, this is the end of my block, where Washington Avenue deadends at the Mohawk.

for comparison, this shot from March 1, 2008:

photo “haiga” — image with linked haiku — March 1, 2008

We’ll be following events to see whether current ice jams bring Stockade flooding. [See, “Emergency officials watching Mohawk, now at flood stage” (Daily Gazette, March 9, 2009)]

update (March 10, 2009):  A March 10, 2009 Gazette article says that the “nearly 5-mile-long ice jam formed between Lock 8 and Freeman’s Bridge” was dislodged by late afternoon on March 9; and Schenectady County Emergency Coordinator John Nuzbeck said “the worst fears of flooding were calmed when the ice finally passed through a section of the river that narrows near the former Alco Plant.” See “Melting on Mohawk sure sign of spring” at B2. [You can find pictures of the post-jam Mohawk River in our post “going with the floe“, March 10, 2009; and the Gazette has a “video of the ice jam breaking”.]

follow-up 2010: Click to see our coverage of Mohawk River ice jams in January 2010.

You can find more photos from along the Mohawk and the Schenectady Stockade, at my weblog f/k/a, including some recent sunsets, plus this collection, and a report on the Stockade’s recent Valentine Pink Flamingos.    A proper launching of this weblog may take place (with an About page and links to other sites) later this week.