Chesapeake Bay Locked in Ice

0 0 2 minutes read

Residents of the US Mid-Atlantic endured a terrible winter in 2025-2026, marked by several high-impact storms and prolonged cold temperatures that left parts of the Chesapeake Bay frozen. Longtime residents may recall a winter nearly 50 years ago when the region saw even more widespread ice cover.

the MSS (Multispectral Scanner System) of Landsat 1 this picture was taken during the very cold winter of 1976-1977. The mosaic combines two Landsat scenes captured on February 7 and a third captured on February 8. The scene is shown in false color (MSS bands 6-5-4), where the ice appears in blue, green, and white colors. On land, snow appears white, vegetation is red, and urban areas have brown-gray tones.

A NASA analysis published in 1980 drew on this and other Landsat images to investigate anomalous ice conditions. The images show that ice began to form in the upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay in late December 1976 and spread into the middle of the upper bay in mid-January 1977. It reached its maximum extent at the time of this image, a week into February, when the ice covered 85 percent of the bay.

Sustained westerly winds in early February pushed the ice toward the eastern shores of the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, contributing to the fractures seen on the ice surface. As the wind subsides, calmer conditions allow new ice to form in areas that were once open water, visible in the image as thinner, darker blue patches. Reports from icebreaking operations indicated that ice thickness reached 30 centimeters (12 inches) in the upper bay and up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) in the lower bay, with some streams seeing double that amount.

Articles describes the event usually shows photos of people ice skating on Kent Island in front of the Bay Bridge and people driving cars and tractors across the ice. But the deep cold has also made it difficult for the region. Ice and cold water cause high mortality of shellfish in the area. And the crushing weight of moving ice with currents has damaged many docks, marinas, and lighthouses.

In winter 2025-2026, ice in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays appears to be less extensivewith the US National Ice Center ice charts showing about 38 percent coverage on February 9 and 10. However, concentrations in the upper bay and its tributaries during this time are high enough to allow unusual winter activities, including ice boaters racing across frozen Claiborne Cove on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. At the same time, it creates challenges for local watermen, according to news reports, hanging boats and limiting access to the bay.

NASA Earth Observatory’s image Mike Taylor, Ginger Butcher, and Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from US Geological Survey. Story by Kathryn Hansen.