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Photos show small "icebergs" covering Cape Cod beach. Here's how they got there.

By
Terry Eliasen, Exec. Weather Producer
WBZ-TV Executive Weather Producer
Terry Eliasen is a meteorologist and executive producer of the WBZ-TV Weather Team. He has worked at WBZ for more than 20 years.
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Terry Eliasen, Exec. Weather Producer

/ CBS Boston

Take a look at these amazing pictures of what looks like small icebergs on the beach - where would you guess they were taken? Alaska? Iceland? Nope, this is the current scene on several Cape Cod beaches.

iceberg-standing.jpg
A large chunk of ice on Skaket Beach in Orleans. Megan O'Leary

Scenes like these are not all that common here in southern New England. Keep in mind, the ocean does not cool as quickly as the land does - current ocean temperatures just off the Massachusetts coastline are in the 30s. And of course, the water is always moving, making it harder to freeze.

This winter has been abnormally cold. And, even more important, the cold has been persistent.

So, over time, the ocean water, foam and spray that are thrown onto our beaches starts to freeze. That cycle continues with successive high tides, day after day, and the ice builds up in layers.

Eventually, you get a scene like this one, taken a few weeks ago on the Outer Cape: A completely encrusted beach scene resembling Antarctica.

skaket-ice.jpg
An icy beach on Cape Cod. Megan O'Leary

This is most common in the sheltered bays and calmer inlets where water has more time to settle and freeze.

Over the last few weeks, temperatures have been slightly milder, and now we are left with tiny "icebergs" or ice chunks.

ice-chunks.jpg
Ice chunks in Orleans. Megan O'Leary

These will gradually melt, float out to sea and dissipate over the next few weeks.  

It's amazing how dramatically the landscape can change from season to season in New England. Just a short few months from now, there will be sun bathers lying where those ice blocks are sitting today.

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