Extreme Cold Turns Point Pleasant Canal Into Frozen Wonderland

The Jersey Shore just experienced its first bout of extremely cold weather this year. Below freezing temperatures coupled with biting winds created some truly uncomfortable conditions. Warm weather fans were left wishing spring would hurry up and get here. But for those people who like winter weather, Mother Nature provided an amazing surprise. Local residents awoke Saturday morning and discovered that the Point Pleasant Canal had turned into an outdoor skating rink.


Dr. Sven Ranedere, Professor of Climatology at Stockton University, said that the freezing of the canal is very unusual. "I checked the records and it has only happened 4 other times in the last 75 years," said Dr. Ranedere. "The reason it is so rare is that it takes more than cold air to make this happen. The water in the Manasquan River has to be frigid to begin with. That doesn't happen too easily, but when it does, and you get a blast of arctic air, it can be magical."

Many local residents would agree with Dr. Ranedere, at least about the "magical" part. Sisters Anna and Elsa Oldenburg from Point Pleasant Beach were extremely excited to see the frozen canal. "We got a call from our friend from school, Chris Toff, and he said he was going skating on the canal," said Anna. "We thought he was kidding, but we came down to see and there he was skating on the canal with a lot of other people! Elsa and I brought our skates, just in case, and we've been having the best time."

Her sister was just as excited. "Mom kept trying to get me to put on a scarf, but I just couldn't wait," said Elsa.  "She couldn't hold me back anymore, so she just let it go. Cold never bothered me anyway."

By 10:30 am, there were approximately 40 skaters enjoying the unusual natural phenomenon. Point Borough Police called in Dr. Ranedere to make certain the ice was safe enough for skating. Once he said it was safe, the Police allowed the spontaneous winter celebration to continue. Even Dr. Ranedere put on his skates and hit the ice. "I may be fascinated in this as a scientist," he said, "but it also brings out the kid in me. Besides, this probably won't last more than a couple of days, so we might as well enjoy it while we can."

Anna Oldenburg thought the day was almost perfect. "I'm really glad we didn't miss this," said Anna. "I was talking to the weather scientist, Dr. Ranedere, and he said it's like the first time in forever that this has happened. The only thing that would be better is if we had some snow," . 

"Why?" her sister Elsa asked. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"






Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 1, 2021 at 6:04 PM

    You can see the photo editing in this picture. Blurry lines along the fence and water, and the middle left grass is penciled in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 2, 2021 at 12:17 AM

    The cast of Frozen being interviewed didn't give it away?

    ReplyDelete
  3. former G&h driverFebruary 2, 2021 at 9:40 AM

    just found this site,love it! like a local babylon bee

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2021 at 6:16 PM

    Fake news

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joe GatosFebruary 4, 2021 at 7:25 PM

    This is great stuff! Your articles are funny. Thanks for the humor, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete

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