Our friends at the NWS in Gray put up this wicked cool time-lapse video of an ice jam. An ice jam is when blocks of ice in a river block the flow of water and cause flooding. As we get into Spring here in Maine, it's something we will need to be wary of. Rapid warm-ups, snowmelt, and heavy rain all can lead to ice jams.

According to the National Weather Service:

"Spring break-up is often accelerated by increased air temperatures and increased solar radiation. The broken, fragmented pieces of ice move downriver until they encounter a strong, intact downstream ice cover, other obstructions to flow, or a significant reduction in water surface slope. Once they reach a jam initiation point, the fragmented ice pieces stop moving, begin to accumulate, and form a jam. If a jam forms during a mid-winter thaw, this location is more likely to be the site of a severe jam in the spring."

 

Check out this amazing video

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