If you live in the United States, you know that the East Coast gets hammered by winter weather almost every single year. Last year held a record-setting week bringing 34.5 inches of snow to Worcester, Massachusetts. People were snowed in, and in all honesty, they made the best of it. But something happened that I didn’t even know was possible. The ocean started to freeze, creating frozen waves. Some have named them Slurpee waves, but whatever you call them, they are pretty incredible!
February was one of the coldest months nationwide in recorded history. Surfer and photographer Jonathan Nimerforh decided to go out to Nantucket Beach during the cold weather and take a few pictures. He had no idea he was going to capture something so incredible.
These waves began to form when the temperature hit a chilling 19 degrees in New England. The waves would top out between 2-3 feet before crashing down.
Nimerfroh said, “When I pulled up to the beach, I could see the horizon just look strange. When I got to the top of the dunes, I see that about 300 yards out from the shoreline, the ocean was starting to freeze.”
“The high temp that day was around 19 degrees. The wind was howling from southwest which would typically make rough or choppy conditions, not so good for surfing. But since the surface of the sea was frozen slush, the wind did not change the shape. They were perfect dreamy slush waves.”
“What an experience to be absolutely freezing on the beach watching these roll in while I mind surfed them.”
“The next day, I drove up to see if things melted, but the same 300 yards out of water froze solid on the surface. No waves at all. I’ve been asking all the fisherman and surfers if they have ever seen such a thing. This is a first they all said,” said Jonathan.
Watch the below video to see some amazing footage of these frozen Slurpee waves.
More info: JDN Photography
This winter has definitely been one for the history books. While the East Coast and the South have been hammered with winter weather, areas like Utah are wishing they had some moisture to help build up the snow pack. Is this caused by global warming or is it just one of those years where unexplainable things are happening?