River damp and shoreline wind on Essex roofs
The Connecticut River holds fog and damp along Essex Village, so shaded roofs grow moss and dry slowly, and the river mouth brings wind and wind-driven rain from storms off the Sound a few miles south. Winters are milder than inland, but ice still forms at the eaves on old houses whose attics were never insulated. Mature trees shade all three villages, filling gutters and valleys every fall, and freeze and thaw works at old chimney flashing, slate hooks and cedar that has cupped.
