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Why is the Charles River yellow?
By adamg on Mon, 12/27/2010 - 10:12am
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Comments
I noticed that from the
I noticed that from the redline this morning. What is going on? Also, downstream of the Longfellow, the Boston side is frozen but the Cambridge side is thawed.
Yellow Charles
I noticed the same thing at the Falls in South Natick this morning. I don't remember ever seeing it like that. Wanted to stop for a picture but the plows behind me thought otherwise.
Normal
Not many folks know of the SECOND verse to the Boston weather poem. After "Flashing red, snow instead", it continues:
Yellow Charles
Traffic snarls
River's clear
Traffic still snarls. What is this, Boise?
that is the regular water
that is the regular water color. The river is most likely partially frozen, and with all the precipitation we've gotten in the past 24 hrs, it's probably a snow/ice/river water slush blend at the surface.
Tannins?
The Charles could be more yellow this time of year due to tannins from the leaves that fell in to it during the autumn (their decomposition releases harmless tannins in to the water). Because frozen water (snow) floats, it's more noticeable on days like today because of the snow that has fallen on it is creating a sort of slush on the top of the water and this white slush is absorbing the off color water. The levels are probably low enough that it's normally not noticed.
Or it could be something completely different.
Slush layer
The yellow regions on the lower Charles (at least) are thin layers of slush that formed from the heavy snow last night. The white regions are sheets of ice. Both MIT and the Charles River Yacht Club, above the Longfellow, have numerous ice eaters in the water to prevent ice from forming near and damaging their docks. Below the Longfellow, the Mirant power plant is discharging some warmed cooling water that keeps ice from forming near the Cambridge shoreline.
Pool's the same color
The swimming pool in my backyard is the same exact color. So it looks like it's not just the Charles. Unless my pool is super polluted and I didn't know it ... what's this rash?
Where do you think
all the yellow snow goes when it melts?
Plumbing too
This morning I filled the sink in my apt. in Cambridge with yellowish water, and then I saw yellowish toilet water at my Back Bay office.
Of course my first thought was that the toilet water was yellow for a different reason. But after flushing that away, the bowl refilled with the same color.
I read the book. Yellow River
I read the book. Yellow River by I. P Daily.
Where's she from Florida?
That yellowish brown color is the normal color of a slushed river.
Globe has a story about this ...
... But as usual, no acknowledgment of where the tip came from.