Icicles & Igloos

We have some pretty incredible icicles around the house right now that I don’t see every single year. 

By this afternoon this center icicle reached down to and through the bushes almost touching the ground below next to the front porch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close-up of those icicles as seen from the front porch.  They are pretty thick and strong.  The ice on the roof is probably 5 inches thick and I’m hoping it’s strong enough to hold that weight.

 

These icicles hang off the back of my house over the gutters.  I had to break some of them just to get out the door.  They are thick, long and I’m really hoping these 14 year old gutters are hanging on tight.  Again the ice is about 5 inches thick sliding slowly off my roof top and today I noticed some icicles are forming between the gutter and the roof as well.  I don’t think that’s a good sign.

 

 

These are NOT forming because we forgot to clean out the gutters.  With the big oak and mature maple, these gutters get plenty of attention from Rick each fall.  They help to keep the basement dry so it’s important to keep them clean.

 

Our house seems to have more icicles all over it than most.  We suppose this is due to the lack of insulation upstairs that leads to melting snow and refreeze.  It’s like there is a big glacier moving over the roof top.  We are fairly certain that there is little to no insulation on the slant line upstairs.  Commonly it is about 50 to 55 degrees upstairs at night in the wintertime… about 10 degrees cooler than downstairs.   In the summertime it is very warm upstairs, in spite of central air.  But whatever the reasons, we are not alone certainly.  There are icicles all over town.

 

Lindsay can fit inside of her igloo in the backyard.  It is a rare find to see an igloo around here.  She hopes to make it bigger before things start melting.  Good news for her that more snow is on the way for the weekend.