Mid-April Snow Storm in Provincetown Actually Brought a Pleasant Tranquility

Looking beyond the clothesline to gardening pots at the edge of the snowy forest.

About 6:15 this morning I awoke to about an inch of snow on the ground and in the trees, giving a sort of surreal, black-and-white look to the patch of forest where my back yard ends. The only bits of color visible today, in this normally verdant scene of green grasses and treetops against a bright blue sky, were now just the row of big clay pots and the barely-yellowish birdbath at the back of my yard, which lies just along the edge of a lovely, tiny patch of conservation lands.
The sun was up, but invisible behind the thick layer of clouds that were slowly dropping huge, wet snowflakes over Provincetown and beyond. I watched for about 40 minutes as snowflakes the size of tiddlywinks, (remember those?) and even a few poker chips, drifted silently down to cover my back yard in about an inch of whiteness that felt a bit surreal, but somehow kind of comforting, even soothing.
I knew I wasn't going out in it, so I didn't resent this mid-April (and hopefully the last) snowfall in PTown till next winter. It actually made my day a little better somehow, and I'll take all of these little bits of serenity I can get these days.
Stay hopeful, stay safe, and, please, stay indoors. You can still enjoy the view.

Spotted on MacMillan Pier in Provincetown...

A pure white pigeon shares the rooftop of a pier shed with more common fellows.

Keeping a camera handy always pays off in PTown, whether you run into an exquisitely sequined drag queen strolling Commercial Street on a summer's day, or come across a snow-white pigeon perched among the common gray ones on a tiny rooftop.
They've all poofed out their feathers as much as possible against the frigid winds, as snow flurries collect on the shingles of an artist's shed on the pier. There's something lovely about the gray ones as well, and the nearly colorless sky makes this a monochrome moment I was glad I could preserve in this usually colorful town by the sea.

Bike Around Provincetown in the Calm of the Autumn Season

Even though they had a car, Aaron and David  rented bicycles while in PTown.

 

The other day I met two men who were on a quick, mini vacation in Provincetown, packing in as much as they could in a brief trip. David has been visiting us for about 20 years, while this is Aaron’s first time here, so David had all kinds of things he wanted Aaron to see, and do, and taste.
They made the rounds over the short time they had to spend here, having escaped Los Angeles for a very quick trip. They had a car at their disposal while here, but decided to rent bicycles, for the ease of getting around by bike to spots they wanted to visit, and for the sheer enjoyment of pedaling their way from one end of town to the other in this dazzling weather we’re having.

They drove up to Provincetown Bike Rentals (which is just finishing its new parking lot for their customers,) rented a couple of beautiful new bikes, and drove off with them! Ah, but there was method to their madness…They drove to the Far West End of Provincetown (perhaps they were staying somewhere in that neighborhood,) and that’s where their adventure began.

The Breakwater is among PTown's most popular walking spots.

They started out at the Breakwater, the famous granite jetty in the Far West End, hiking the mile-and-a-quarter length of it across the harbor and wetlands out to the shifting sands of Long Point, and that fabulous view.
Once back on terra firma following their hike, they biked out into a bit of the lovely Cape Cod National Seashore, past the saltwater pond that rises with the tide, then pedaled up toward the Far East End.
From there, they made stops all around the town. They even spent some time with horses belonging to a friend, visiting Provincetown’s last remaining bit of pasture. They were packing in the adventures on this trip.

On previous visits, David had ridden all of the various spurs that make up nearly eight miles of gorgeous paved bike trails in PTown, but the two decided that on this trip, with their time here limited, that they would concentrate on exploring the town itself, and showing Aaron around.

These two gentlemen covered an impressive area, visiting a good number of spots during their brief stay, and it was all that much easier navigating the town by bicycle rather than on foot or by car. Aaron says he’ll definitely be back, and plans next time to hit the bike trails, which will be waiting for him.

They managed to visit restaurants all around the town as well; again, easier by bicycle. They commented on great meals they had found, particularly several dishes at the Lobster Pot, the huge lobster roll at Bayside Betsy’s, and the Mayflower’s clam chowder, along with their spaghetti and meatballs.

Bradford Natural Market has great food to take out or eat in.

I met them when they sat down at an outdoor table to gobble down a quick lunch at 141 Bradford Natural Market. Aaron loved his authentic Cuban sandwich, served hot off the Panini grill, and David raved about his Thai Peanut Chicken.
I was there picking up a few groceries and having a little something from their daily hot food bar, having lunch on a welcoming bench in front of the market. I was enjoying the glorious sunshine and a meal I hope to have again sometime. The White Beans with Tarragon over Jasmine Rice was soooo good that I’ll be writing about it shortly.

I had seen the guys pedal up to check in their bikes with Mike, who owns Provincetown Bike Rentals, at 136 Bradford Street, right across from the market. Easy as pie, they were in and out in mere moments, and then they dashed across the road for some food, having just an hour left in Provincetown to eat something, pack their stuff, catch the three o’clock ferry to Boston, and then their plane back to LA.

We chatted a bit between delectable mouthfuls, and then they were off, having had a remarkable, whirlwind, mini vacation in Provincetown, made all the better with a fun, convenient bike rental, this gorgeous weather we’ve been having, and some great food throughout the town.

If you’re planning a visit to Provincetown, consider renting a bike to get around. The Bay State Ferry from Boston extended their schedule by an extra couple of weeks or so this year, so there’s still time, if you’re quick, to get here and enjoy this beautiful fall weather and your own adventure, pedaling around PTown in the serenity of the autumn season. Come join us!

Extreme Cold Snap Recalls Provincetown's Brutal Winter of 1918

This 1918 photo of Robert Lewis was taken by his father, Captain William Lewis,
on the tidal flats at the foot of Cook Street. The ice stood 10 feet, two inches high.

This bitter cold snap combined with strong, steady winds has given us two or three days of piercingly cold temperatures, with wind chill temps dropping into the subzero range. This is the sort of weather where being outdoors for more than a few moments can be dangerous.
Thankfully, today's temperature rose well into the twenties while winds were dropping to 20 mph or lower, and we'll be into warmer weather in a couple of days. Whew!
A few years back I wrote about an extended, bitter cold snap nearly 100 years ago, perhaps the most trying stretch of winter weather Provincetown has seen. Around this time in 1918 PTowners were enduring cruel winds in subfreezing temperatures, and most were truly struggling to keep warm.
In eight days of extreme cold the town had exhausted its entire supply of coal, the main fuel used for heating in those days, and the coal barges attempting to make deliveries were unable to navigate through the thick, treacherous ice floes that we're choking the harbor. The extraordinary cold had formed  chunks of ice more than ten feet tall along the coastline,, and strong, steady winds kept the ice pushed into the harbor. At each low tide there were giant ice floes resting on the tidal flats. The Advocate, Provincetown's weekly newspaper at the time, said “Taken all together it was the most disagreeable eight days endured by the community within recollection.” 
Even though the weather began to turn a tiny bit warmer, those enormous chunks of harbor ice would take a long time to melt, and in the meantime, no ships could get in or out of Provincetown Harbor. The paper reported that “With the exception of a mere handful of days, ice has continued to form in day or night almost constantly on the shore of Cape Cod bay since early in January."
On Valentine's day a large ice floe drifting near the mouth of the harbor was driven toward the shoreline at 571 Commercial Street, where the old fish shack at the end of Lewis Wharf had been converted to a theater for the Provincetown Players. The force of tons of ice pushing against the pilings of the old wharf threatened to destroy the magical spot where the career of unknown playwright Eugene O'Neill had been launched two years earlier. Although the structure survived this onslaught, it was indeed ice in the harbor that demolished the wharf in the winter of 1921.
In the photo above we can see ten-foot, two-inch thick chunks of ice that clogged the harbor in that dreadful winter of 1918, resting on the flats at low tide, creating tremendous physical hardships for townsfolk and wreaking havoc on their economy as well. Not only were fuel barges turned away by the ice, but the fishing fleet was kept ashore for more than 30 days as well. The harbor was simply unnavigable.
When a northeast wind finally breached the ice and began pushing it, little by little, toward Truro, the harbor once again became passable, but the exceptional cold and a frozen harbor had made January through early March of 1918 the most brutal winter in Provincetown's memory.

A Little Rain and a Stiff Breeze Can't Dampen Spirits in Provincetown

Umbrellas and ponchos on Commercial Street, seen through raindrops
on my windshield, show that a little rain can't stop a good time in PTown.

We don't pay a lot of attention to weather forecasts in PTown, because the prediction will change in about an hour, and again in another hour, and still be wrong. What I do is stick my head out the window, and if it comes in dry, I go out. If it comes in wet, I put on a jacket, and go out. We don't let a little rain stop us from enjoying ourselves.
It is a little difficult to predict the weather here, since we're virtually surrounded by deep water, which acts as a kind of insulator for us. Generally, we stay a little cooler than the folks in Boston in the summer, and a bit warmer than they are in the winter. That's nice, but it also makes accurate weather prediction a little tougher.
I have absolutely nothing to back this up, but it seems to me that when dire weather conditions are predicted far in advance, when the day rolls around, about 70% of the time the weather's not so bad after all. If they say on a Monday that Thursday will be rainy all day, often we get a reprieve, with just a little rain for an hour or two, or none at all.
The Provincetown Chamber of Commerce used to take the Boston weather forecasters out to lunch every spring and explain how predictions a week in advance for a weekend of lousy weather on the Cape killed our opportunity to make our living. People would make plans to visit Maine instead, or just stay home altogether. By the time it became obvious that the weekend weather would be lovely, it was too late to reserve their favorite spot or to get a decent rate on a flight.
We actually need the rain we've gotten the last couple of days, and they're calling for nice weather for Columbus Day and Women's Week, so let's hope this way-too-early prediction holds out.

On This Day in 1887 - The First Annual Groundhog Day is Celebrated

This plaque at Gobbler's Knob, in Punxsutawney, PA, elucidates the lore of
Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day, celebrated every February 2nd

Remember what it was like around this time last year? We were still getting several inches of snow, several times a week, with no end in sight. It started out just like this winter did, with all of that uncharacteristically mild weather for weeks, but then we got clobbered with that first blizzard, followed by another, and another…
I won't mention what mild weather we've had this winter, lest we be cursed with constant, dreadful storms to finish off the "off-season" with a bang. Suffice it to say we've made it through January, generally the coldest month in Provincetown winters, without too much fuss, and if grand prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow today at Gobbler's Knob, then we're out of the woods, so to speak.

Contributed photo/Groundhog Day Inner Circle

No such luck. Checking the forecast, it looks like western Pennsylvania will be sunny all morning long, with thermometers reaching 46 degrees today, and zero chance of rain, so Phil will no doubt see his shadow.
According to groundhog legend and lore, that will mean that America is doomed to six more weeks of winter rather than an early spring. But if this winter continues the way it has been going, I won't mind.
Going out in a sweater instead of an overcoat has been just my cup of tea this season, and although this warm weather is actually terrible for the planet, it's been good for my spirits, and I figure that even if it starts snowing tonight and doesn't stop until April, we'll still break even compared to last winter. As of now, we're scheduled for at least another 9 or 10 days of warm weather before temperatures dip.

By the way, Punxsutawney Phil's winter weather predictions in the last decade or two have been correct just under half of the time, with a score of 13 to 15. Learn a few other groundhog facts by watching just a few moments of useless Groundhog Day trivia, with its very dramatic musical score, produced by USA Today.

Just like we do for certain Provincetown events, Punxsutawney's population of 5,500 residents "look forward" with mixed emotions to the 10,000 to 12,000 visitors that flock to their town for this annual celebration, with more arriving whenever Groundhog Day falls on the weekend. A few other cities have now come up with characters of their own to forecast predictions for the end of winter, with events growing year by year.
People love any excuse to come to PTown to celebrate, even in the dead of winter, as evidenced by the great success of our First Light celebration over New Years. What sort of mascot might Provincetown come up with to expand a bit on the few parties here that already celebrate this groundhog's "holiday?"
Regardless of the kind of weather we have over these next six weeks, I think I can count on at least one positive thing, for sure… I won't ever have to look up how to spell Punxsutawney again. By George, I think I've got it!

Christmas Day Brought This Pair of Sun Dogs to Skies Over Herring Cove

On the afternoon of Christmas Day, sun dogs made this spectacular halo, seen from Herring Cove Beach. 

A couple of sun dogs appeared in the western sky off Provincetown shores on the afternoon of Christmas Day, giving a remarkable visual treat to those of us lucky enough to be at Herring Cove Beach during these few moments. A sun dog is a parhelion, the bright spot, or false sun, that can appear about 22 degrees to either side, or both sides, of the sun, and at the same elevation as the sun, with ice crystals in the atmosphere refracting the light in a particular way.
As the sun rises or descends, these bright spots follow, or "dog" the sun, which may explain the name. No one can say for certain where the term came from, but it seems to have been in use since the early 1600s, around the time when the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on Provincetown shores. The easiest time to see these bright spots following the sun is early morning or late afternoon, when the sun is closest to the horizon.
In the photo above a couple of sun dogs (a pair of parhelia) give the appearance of two bright spots on either side of the sun, creating a luminous circle, or a sort of halo around the sun, with the area inside the halo appearing slightly darker than the surrounding sky. These halos can appear when flat, hexagonal ice crystals, often in wispy, cirrus clouds, are drifting in random orientations, refracting the light and bending the rays that pass through them. As these crystals sink through the atmosphere they tend to align vertically, refracting the light horizontally, which can produce sun dogs.
A sun dog will always appear at the same height above the horizon as the sun, whether or not the complete halo is visible. This phenomenon can be seen anywhere around the world, in any season, but it seems to me that we have a few more than our fair share of these remarkable displays here in PTown, and I'm going to chalk that up to the unique quality of the light that surrounds us. The light in Provincetown truly is different from the light in other spots on the globe.
Sun dogs will sometimes exhibit a sort of rainbow effect. with a reddish color nearest to the sun, morphing to blue on the outer edge. See my post Sun Dog Appears Over Race Point, from October of last year. You'll find a rather vibrant photo I managed to get one afternoon, illustrating this rainbow effect.
Of course, this cosmic sight was visible from many vantage points around town, but the view from Herring Cove, looking out over Cape Cod Bay, was particularly splendid. One of the greatest things about living in this amazing spot is just how often each of us ends up "in the right place at the right time" to see the spectacular show that Mother Nature puts on for us, several times a day, from any viewpoint one might choose.

Today's Cloud Buster Flooded Provincetown Streets

Bradford and Ryder streets, at Town Hall, were flooded for a short time.

Several million gallons of water fell on Provincetown this morning, with a tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service to boot. A number of our streets were flooded in a monster rain storm that lasted about 90 minutes over the Outer Cape.
By 11 AM it was pretty much over, and by 1 PM things were getting back to normal, with endless lines of cars rolling into town because there's so much to see and do and taste in PTown when it's not a beach day.

Another Day, Another Blizzard in PTown

Commercial Street snow heaps grow by layers upon layers.

Considering the kind of storms we've been having, with snow several times each week, and an actual blizzard thrown in here and there, we seem to be doing alright.
Thankfully, yesterday's storm wasn't as  brutal as predicted, which is often the case here. And the power outage in Provincetown this time was of a fairly short duration, with most homes getting their electricity back on in fairly quick order, considering the stiff winds and brutal temperatures the repair crews faced. We thank them, truly, for their dedication to keeping us warm and safe in this formidable, often dangerous weather.
Folks still seem to have a sense of humor about this very challenging winter, too, and that helps. Most people I've talked to on the street have been fairly upbeat as they're shoveling their walks for the second time that day, or digging their cars out again, before the next storm makes all that snow too heavy to lift.
As the snow drifts and the piles left behind by the plows grow by a few inches with every new inch of snow that falls in Provincetown, streets are getting just a bit narrower day by day. Make sure you're extra cautious, whether you're walking or driving, especially near driveways and intersections where it's more difficult daily to see around these mounds.

Once again, a neighbor shovels the "path" from Pearl Street to his house.

A neighbor on Pearl Street was up very early the other morning, shoveling out the path to his house one more time, "…trying to stay ahead of the storm." The snow piles were already as tall as he was, with much more piled on since then, and the forecast for tomorrow is calling for yet another three to five inches.
I don't know how long our fairly cheery dispositions can last, but for now, at least, we are still hardy New Englanders, carrying on, and helping out our neighbors in the face of the next storm.

Warm Weather for the Holidays Brought Lots of Folks to Herring Cove Beach

Peering over the asphalt embankment along Herring Cove,
I found many on the beach for a bit of recreation this day.

The warmest holiday season in recent memory brought visitors and Townies in great numbers to PTown beaches. Herring Cove seemed quite busy despite a persistent breeze on those unusually warm, sunny days between Christmas, New Year's, and the following weekend.
The temperature on the day after Christmas was in the mid-forties, with a fairly constant westerly breeze occasionally gusting to about 20 miles an hour. So the feeling was a bit brisk, but not daunting. That day was so lovely that there was a steady stream of people coming out to the beach all afternoon, enjoying this rare, warm, glorious weather.
In this photo some folks are simply strolling the northern end of Herring Cove, some are taking photos, some are climbing the tiny hillocks that ring the shoreline, while others are actively looking for treasures washed up onto the beach by that day's considerable surf and swash.
My personal favorites this day are right in the center of this photo: the terrier in mid air, jumping for the Frisbee, as his companion prepares, yet again, to fling it down the beach.

Have We Made It Through Another Provincetown Summer?

In this cooler-than-average summer people still went to the beach to relax and to enjoy the view,
but they sometimes dressed a little warmer, and often brought along an extra blanket or two.

I hesitate to say we've gotten through another summer season here at the tip of Cape Cod, because we've still got a number of visitors in town, many of us haven't yet made the money we need to get through the long winter with no opportunity for employment, and we're only midway through the potential hurricane season…
Despite all that, this is likely to be a summer I'll remember fondly, even though I worked an extra day each week for the same money, had very little time to myself, and came down with a few minor symptoms of Augustitis in the last couple of weeks. I found myself becoming quite cynical, and even a bit short-tempered a few times, so I took two days off (you know, like a person with a normal job in the "other world" would do) and I went to see some art, had a therapeutic glass of wine, and I'm recovering quite nicely, thank you. Yesterday, when every possible thing that could go wrong at work did, and even a couple of things that were impossible also happened (you know how that is, too,) I remained calm and unflappable.
We've had such perfect, mild weather all over the east coast all summer, so people didn't have to escape from unbearable heat and humidity in Boston or New York. I think that has meant fewer daytrippers, or people who might break out of the city in an unplanned visit of a few days when the weather is hot and nasty. We seem to be consistently a few degrees cooler here in the summer than folks are in Boston, for example, and there's always a cool breeze in the evening. With temperatures that didn't get much over the mid seventies this summer, and refreshingly low humidity most of the time, my little attic apartment (with no air conditioning) was pretty habitable shortly after nightfall most nights, instead of at 2 or 3 in the morning like in most hot, humid summers.
The cool weather, and the cool water, may have cut into our normal number of visitors, but cut our risk of hurricanes dramatically, too. The season was also especially short this year, with really chilly, rainy, windy weather several weeks into our normal season, and Labor Day falls on the earliest possible day, shortening the season by yet another week. I think all of this adds up to fewer visitors this year, probably less money, and I'm definitely behind financially, but overall I'm glad to have had this short, mild season, and I'm ready to have no more daily time commitments, to choose how I want to spend each day, and to be blissfully unemployed.
And every year, on the Tuesday morning after Labor Day, if you listen closely you can hear a kind of collective sigh of relief as we all walk out the door in the morning and begin to feel like we're getting our town back.
Maybe soon I'll be the one lying on the edge of the beach in a sweatshirt, and a blanket, watching the tide roll in and out.

A Beautiful Provincetown Night Gives Way to Arthur, Flooding PTown Streets

The humidity in the air on this lovely Provincetown night made a glowing ellipse around the crescent moon as it slowly descended behind the trees.
The following day was July 4th, which brought a series of torrential downpours throughout the afternoon and evening and on into the night as Hurricane Arthur, by then reduced to tropical storm status, walloped PTown on its way north along the eastern seaboard.
As the storm blew out of town on great gusts of wind early on the following morning, every last trace of humidity had been removed from the air. It had all been deposited in the Court Street Lake.

I got here ten minutes too late to get a photo of someone who was navigating their way down Court Street in a yellow rubber raft. Did anyone else get that picture?

Overnight, Arthur converted John Fay's garage into waterfront property.

Cars driving through 14 inches of water created a tide that washed fallen tree branches, twigs and other storm debris onto the "shoreline" along the sides of Court Street.

The lake lasted for two days as the overwhelmed storm drain system struggled with all that rainwater, along with more water being pumped toward the drain by neighbors on Winthrop Street, contending with several inches of water in their yards and basements.

Once again, Provincetown got lucky. As the strength of Arthur weakened we were spared from major damage or loss of life, and merely had to put up with a bit of inconvenience.

PTown Beach Tease

A single day of warmer weather is enough for people to get out and enjoy Provincetown beaches.

A little rain, a little snow, and, of course, these freaking winds that we've had to adjust to over the last couple of winters…
The persistently cold, wet weather of this memorable winter is slowly giving way to some warmer temperatures and a bit of sunshine, and soon an afternoon at the beach will be downright balmy. We're gaining about 26 minutes of daily sunlight every 10 days, with the sun rising a minute or two earlier each day, and setting a minute later each night, but what's really helping our spirits might just be that pesky Daylight Savings Time switch we just went through.
Although turning the clock ahead an hour every spring disorients a lot of us for a short time, and actually makes a few people a bit ill as their internal clocks adjust to the time change twice a year, we all seem to rejoice a little or a lot as the days lengthen. Perhaps we notice it most in the evenings, with this extra few minutes of light extending the day on the end that most of us are awake for, the twilight moments before the sunset… The perfect time to be on the beach.
With our air temperature hitting 45 degrees (for a few hours) and our air speed hitting something under 30 miles per hour (for those same few hours this past weekend,) folks turned up at the beach dressed in something less than ski parkas and mufflers, and another day-long spring romp was enjoyed by all before St. Patrick's Day returned us to gusting winds and a high temperature in the mid 20s. Patience seems to be the key word these past few weeks, as we occasionally get a day's respite from the unusually cold weather and bone chilling winds of this winter.
We're grateful to have a warmer day here and there, even if it's only a tease.

Has Provincetown Turned That Cold, Snowy Corner Toward Spring?

Bike trails and footpaths abound in Provincetown, made even lovelier by
the snow, and even the extreme cold and snow can't keep us indoors for long.

With Provincetown's recent average daily high temperatures running around 10 to 15 degrees cooler than usual for about the last 100 years or so, folks are taking advantage of any day where the mercury rises above freezing. Even with snow still on the ground in the shady spots, people are watching for any slightly warmer days to get themselves outdoors to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds us here. And with city temperatures being even chillier than ours, PTown has seen a few visitors join us for a little recreation recently.
While the rest of the world is having record warm temperatures, the midwest and the eastern United States have had consistently cold weather this winter, with many areas averaging temperatures 20 degrees lower than normal. While on average in recent years the US has had a blizzard every winter, this year there were three. Tremendous amounts of snowfall coupled with extreme cold ran out the nation's supply of rock salt, and the manufacturers couldn't supply enough to keep up with the demand. The DPW did a remarkable job of keeping our roads navigable, and we really didn't have much trouble getting around town by car or on foot, despite the ice and snow that took its time melting in the frigid temperatures we endured. During our last storm there wasn't a single pound of rock salt or ice melter on the shelves in any hardware outlet, convenience store or neighborhood market in town, but none the less we still managed to traverse our frozen sidewalks and stairways, although a bit more slowly and carefully than usual.

Ice melter has been a precious commodity recently, doled out judiciously.

Of course, all of the banks were closed on Presidents Day, but people still had to get to the cash machines to make deposits and withdrawals. I looked on as the woman from the bank worked to shovel away all the snow she could, and then very carefully she sprinkled a tiny bit of the precious ice melter to break up the icy layer she couldn't chip away.
Despite all of our struggles, we've had a winter that turned out a bit milder than predicted, with some major storms shifting or breaking up a little as they rolled over us, dropping a bit less snow than we were constantly being threatened with. All in all, we've made our way through the winter pretty well once again, and now look forward to the month of March, when average daily temperatures typically rise about two degrees per week. But even though the average high over the years for the first week of March has been 41 degrees, and our highs this week range only from the low 20s to the mid 30s, it looks like we're done with the 14 degree overnight lows we've been having. We'll start to gain that degree or two each week, and soon the snow we've been slogging through will be gone from even the shady spots in the trails, and shirtsleeve weather in Provincetown will have returned once again.
By the way, today's predicted high is 28 degrees, well below the average high of 41, with a forecast of 25 for the low and perhaps a bit of snow, but the record temperatures for March 4th in Provincetown came in 1965, with its high of 62, and in 1968, with 13 degrees being the low temperature that day.

Pond Ducks Walk on Water

A trio of ducks splash across melting pond ice during PTown's brief winter thaw.

The recent spring-like temperatures, with a Provincetown high of 50 degrees the other day, have melted a bit of the blanket of ice that has chilled us during the last few weeks.
As the edge of the pond in Beech Forest began to thaw, a soft wind gently blew the meltwater over the ice and several feet out into the pond, splashing half-an-inch or so of water onto the thick layer of ice that had overspread every inch of Black Water Pond during the recent cold snap. We all rejoiced in nearly a week of warmer weather, and a couple of gorgeous, sunny days.
Folks were seen out walking on the trails in Beech Forest, on the Old Colony Nature Pathway and on other trails around Provincetown. As sidewalks thawed people came outdoors again to stroll our neighborhoods, and it was a busy weekend at the dog park. And although we're heading back into colder weather again, along with more snow, the temperatures won't be quite as cold as they have been, and we have the recent memory of a few lovely days to sustain us as we wait for the spring that can come none too soon after the cold and snowy winter we've had this year.

Brilliant Autumn Leaves Surround PTown

Autumn colors are found in every corner of Provincetown.

Scrub oaks in the dunes are turning rusty shades of red and gold, sugar maples on side streets are rosy shades of vermillion, and Virginia creeper takes on deep scarlet hues all around Provincetown. Take a stroll on the Beech Forest branch of the bike trail and see dozens of yellow and ochre shades among the green.
A walk nearly anywhere in Provincetown this autumn shows us especially bright colors this year, partly because we've had rather sparse rainfall over the last many weeks. The drier the weather at this time of the year, the more brilliant the changing colors of the foliage all around us appear. The leaves are gradually beginning to drop from the trees, so get out for a walk and enjoy this show of splendid fall colors before they disappear.

PTown Indian Summer

Most folks on Provincetown's breakwater this afternoon are fishing as kayakers revel in Indian summer weather.

OK, true "Indian summer" weather usually means the return of summer weather after a killing frost, and we haven't had one of those yet, but I'm going to count it, especially after the overnight low temperature was a chilling 39 degrees two nights in a row last week. I don't know a better way to describe these absolutely gorgeous days we've been having. Get out and enjoy this beautiful weather today, because this may be the last of it, with a pretty good chance of rain tomorrow and daily highs dipping down into the 60s next week. That'll make it more like fishing weather than kayaking weather, but still lovely for hiking, biking and many of the outdoor activities that make Provincetown such a remarkable spot.

Spring Arrived in Provincetown This Morning at 7:02 AM

A bit of snow can't stop these crocuses from springing up.

With snow on the ground, the first day of spring, or the Vernal Equinox of 2013, brought us an absolutely beautiful, sunny day, if you didn't mind wind chill factors that made it feel like the mid-twenty-degree range for most of the day.
Equinox is a Latin term meaning "equal night" and it happens twice every year, in the spring and in the autumn, when the length of the night and the length of daylight are roughly equal all around the world. The Vernal (spring) Equinox occurs at the precise moment when the Sun, which is moving northward, crosses the celestial equator. On this day, the sun rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west.
As the sun moves steadily northward by a tiny bit each day, the daylight hours become longer by roughly two or three minutes every day over the next three months, bringing us the longest day of the year, or the Summer Solstice, on about the 20th of June. From that point on, the Sun begins once again moving southward, making daylight shorter by a couple of minutes or so each day for about another three months, until the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun once again aligns precisely with the equator, rising and setting exactly to the east and west of us on that day.
Over the years, the average Provincetown temperature on this day has been a high of 45 degrees with the low at 30, but we're a bit cooler than average right now. Today's high was 39 degrees, which we reached just after 2 PM; 6 degrees cooler than most years have been on this day. Our low temperature today was 28 degrees at 2:25 AM, with the record low for PTown in March being 6 degrees back in '72. But the real shocker is the record high temperature for this day. Go ahead, take a guess... No, guess higher... Nope, higher than that... The high temperature in Provincetown on March 20th, 1959, was 76 degrees, and the all-time record for March is even weirder, when PTown's temperature on March 30th, 1977, reached 79 degrees!
So don't despair as we keep getting snow (likely another couple of inches or so tonight) and chilly temperatures (about 6 degrees cooler than average) as spring begins. Provincetown has better weather than most anywhere in New England, and there is nowhere more beautiful, so get out of the house and enjoy the unfolding of the PTown spring that awaits us.

It's the 95th Anniversary of Provincetown's Most Miserable Winter Ever Recorded

This 1918 photo of Robert Lewis was taken by his father, Captain William Lewis,
on the tidal flats at the foot of Cook Street. The ice stood 10 feet, two inches high.

Despite the Blizzard of February 9th and the brutal nor'easter that followed it, along with a few other snow flurries, we've really had a pretty mild winter. I saw my first crocuses springing up today in the yard at Saint Mary's Church in the East End. It's only the second day of March, and I'm sure we're going to get a bit more snow before it's all over, but those winsome little purple flowers popping up are what I always think of as the first real sign of spring. I don't remember ever seeing any this early. They weren't open yet, just little bullets the color of amethyst, but they stood straight up on sturdy little stems a good four inches tall, and if I go back tomorrow (if it isn't snowing...) they'll surely be open, heralding the joys of a Provincetown spring, which will surely follow.

Around this time in 1918 PTowners weren't so lucky. They were enduring bitter winds in subfreezing temperatures and many were struggling to keep warm. In eight days of extreme cold the town had exhausted its entire supply of coal, the main fuel used for heating in those days, and the coal barges attempting to make deliveries were unable to navigate through the thick, treacherous ice floes that we're choking the harbor. The Advocate, Provincetown's weekly newspaper at the time, said “Taken all together it was the most disagreeable eight days endured by the community within recollection.” 
No ships could get in or out of Provincetown Harbor. The paper reported that “With the exception of a mere handful of days, ice has continued to form in day or night almost constantly on the shore of Cape Cod bay since early in January." On Valentine's day a large ice floe drifting near the mouth of the harbor was driven toward the shoreline at 571 Commercial Street, where the old fish shack at the end of Lewis Wharf had been converted to a theater for the Provincetown Players. The force of tons of ice pushing against the pilings of the old wharf threatened to destroy the magical spot where the career of unknown playwright Eugene O'Neill had been launched two years earlier. Although the structure survived this onslaught, it was indeed ice in the harbor that demolished the wharf in the winter of 1921.
In the photo above we can see ten foot, two inch thick chunks of ice that clogged the harbor in that dreadful winter of 1918, coming to rest on the tidal flats at low tide, creating tremendous physical hardships for townsfolk and wreaking havoc on their economy as well. Not only were fuel barges turned away by the ice, but the impassable harbor kept the fishing fleet ashore for more than 30 days. When a northeast wind finally breached the ice and began pushing it, little by little, toward Truro, the harbor once again became navigable, but the exceptional cold and a frozen harbor had made January through early March of 1918 the most brutal winter in Provincetown's memory.

Provincetown Shoreline Disappears, Shrouded in Three Days of Dense Fog

It's not that unusual to see a fairly heavy fog rolling over the dunes and into Beach Forrest, and on into the center of town, where it sometimes gobbles up the Pilgrim Monument from the top down. This will happen on several mornings throughout the year. But this time the fog has been hovering just above our heads for three days,  hanging over the ponds, sweeping back and forth, drifting out to sea a mile or two, and then sneaking back in over the beaches and the harbor. A misty veil of tiny water droplets suspended in midair has hidden both Wood End and the Long Point Light from view ever since Tuesday morning, leaving hapless visitors to speculate on the whereabouts of the actual tip of Cape Cod. These minuscule beads of dew have caused the breakwater in the West End, and those walking on it, to vanish less than halfway out into the harbor, and they've collected on the leaves of trees all along Commercial Street, plopping silently onto our heads as we walk beneath the dripping branches.

There's one great advantage, however, to having this salubrious mist settling quietly onto every surface in sight: it makes nature's colors just that much more vibrant. The pitch pines at the edges of the dunes become more verdant, the last purple blossoms of the sheep's laurel brighten a bit, and the brown blotches of leaves slowly dying on the scrub oaks turn golden under a bit of moisture.
Get out for a stroll on the bike trails before ten this morning, when the sun is scheduled to return, and enjoy this drizzle from a fresh perspective.