There was people on lake pemingewasset today

Wmur stated today that this could be a year that Winni does not completely freeze over. Let's forget about ice inane just concentrate on ice out, ha ha ha. :laugh:

How does the lake look this morning?

Cold.

Well, actually, with the sun out so brightly, the sky so blue, and no snow around as I look out over the water, it looks like a nice fall day. The wind isn't as strong as it had been, so there are no whitecaps between Long Island and the Neck. I do notice that in close to shore, for 50 ft or so out, the quieter water has allowed some ice to reform overnight. Further out, where the breeze is cooling the water rapidly, it also is turning over the surface and mixing it with slightly less cold water below it and delaying the freezing.

Given Up
 

I have given up on seeing any kind of decent ice fishing or winter sport season on Winni this year. With the 10 day weather forecast predicting above freezing temps during the day and mid forties on Saturday, the chance of the broads freezing over this year are slim. :(

Oh well, looks like the camp will open just that much earlier this year! :)

Dan

I'll settle for bare ice at this point and I'll leave the sled in NC. I just want to be able to fish and ride the atv's to my favorite spots.

If anybody is up flying around, I'd like to see some pics of the lake from the sky. The webcams give me a good idea of what parts are freezing, but it's only a handful of areas.

When I got up at midnight, the stretch between 20 Mile Bay and Moultonboro Neck/Black Island was entirely liquid & choppy. By the time I got up @ 6:15, the entire area was frozen, save for a small patch out toward #59 marker. However, most of Winter Harbor was still completely open. Once that wind calmed, the temps didn't take long to set it up.

Don't give up yet! There will be less wind over the next few nights and the lake is cold enough to freeze, as CLA has pointed out. We could see the bays locking up by this Friday night, some sooner.

Yes, there will be one warm day Saturday, but by the following Thursday, it will be very cold. Winter is coming and it looks to be below normal cold for the period Jan 11th onward for a few weeks, perhaps longer. I expect that in the end, Jan and Feb will be below normal temperature wise. Time will tell, but I am fairly confident with this.

Once it gets cold, the snow will follow.

R2B

See earlier reference to 2006... most were giving up that year too.

The lake was frozen solid by late January.

Check out the Weirs Cam time-lapse video for today. The wind goes down and the bay skims over. Wow!!!

R2B

Time for some skating

Giving up on winter in the first week of January????
 

C'mon!! My bet is we'll have plenty of ice by 28th, maybe a little earlier. It's been a little slow in coming this year, but the weather patterns are beginning to trend more towards real winter. Ice is forming in the bays and beyond. Patience....

The water temp has dropped the past few days and is sitting in the low 30's. It won't take much. A few days of no wind and temps below 32 and it will skim over.

R2B;

I'm saying that I am giving up to throw Mother Nature off. Old Ma Nature knows how much I enjoy my winter time activities on the big lake and she is trying to mess with my head with all this warm weather! She likes doing stuff like that, she can be bitchy at times! :eek: I figure if I say I have given up it will throw her off just enough to get some cold weather here and get the ice locked up. :D

I'm feeling much better now!

Happy New Year!

Dan

not nice to fool...
 

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LLrTPrp-fW8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

S. Wolfeboro Bay
 

Just want to report that the water in front of my rental house has frozen in motion. For the past two months I've been watching the winds kick up this little bay and this morning, all of a sudden it was frozen in place. Just like that. It's a very thin veneer of ice because I can see the water undulating beneath and moving this delicate frozen surface.

Fascinating.

This am the area between Long Island and the Neck is wall to wall ice.

Somebody on iceshanty.com states there is 4" of ice in Alton bay. Great start!

Most of Winter Harbor has a very thin delicate layer this morning.

Dan,

Great strategy!

Happy New Year to you!

Enjoy whatever winter we get.

R2B

First Bobhouse on the Alton Bay
 

First house on yesterday with two guys chasing flags. Wow and only 4-5" of ice. I am anxious but not that anxious, one good warm rain could make a huge difference.

Skating
 

We have been ice skating on the north end of the big lake since Christmas Day .

You're right...and that rain event will probably be here mid week next week. No real ice to speak of in Meredith unless you want to fish between the north shore and the little island with the Indian statue on it.

Paugus Bay
 

Had to visit the vet Wednesday morning and I noticed a lot of the bay was skimmed over, and then the breeze picked up. It was really kind of cool to see it all just kind of fade away.

Northeast quadrant ice is here to stay (hopefully)
 

North of Moultonborough Bay (think light marker 14) it is all but frozen over now. We had a heavy dusting of snow this morning, so the holes in the ice are easily visible. Near rocks and in strange (probably spring fed) places, there are still small open spots, but for the most part, the ice is thick enough to gingerly walk on. Two inches is enough to keep the winds from removing the ice (for the fifth time this year) but not thick enough for anything more than a cautious foray near the shoreline or the local minks.

My area of Merrymeeting was wide open as of Monday. Returned today to find somewhat thick ice several hundred yards out. Not enough to walk on, but more than a skim. But by afternoon it already seemed to be retreating as the temp came up.

What surprised me more was my drive to Alton Bay. At about 4PM this afternoon, there were 4-5 ice fishermen out on the Bay. Several were well beyond the bandstand, out in the middle Given the areas of open water showing in multiple areas, not sure I'd trust it. There was also 1 bob house already out, almost out to the bandstand, and beyond (north of) it.

Yep it is
 

Any body know how thick the ice is? Also any news on 19 mile bay?

On another site it was reported that Alton Bay has about 5".

I was gone from the area since Saturday, just returning today. It's interesting what has happened to the ice.

The Merrymeeting River is now almost completely closed in. It was still mostly open when we left on Saturday. So ice formation has continued. (For those who may not know, the Merrymeeting River flows into Alton Bay)

But at the same time, most of the ice that had formed in some of the coves on the lake has disappeared.

In any case, all the water bodies seem to be right at the tipping point needed to freeze. All it's going to take is extended, below 32 degree temps, something that appears to be coming next week.

Ice is singing
 

Much of the northeast quadrant of the lake is 95% frozen, with lots of it 4-5" thick. Today, it has been singing. Very cool sounds and a sign that it is getting close to being safe. If we get the snow on Thursday as advertised, XC'ing on the lake should be very nice this weekend.

THE WEIRS CAM HAS ICE THE WEIRS CAM HAS ICE

wow, i am getting excited here folks seriously

Great reports. Thanks!

Just curious, what is the Northeast quadrant? When I went through Wolfeboro yesterday it was 100% open. Winter Harbor was less than 50% too. Looking at my lake chart, isn't Wolfeboro the Northeast quadrant? or are you talking more northeast as in Springfield Point?

The lake charts do not have north on the top. North is near the top left corner. Once the chart is oriented, you will better see the northeast corner, generally Melvin Village area.

I do not think the entire northeast quadrant is frozen right now, but there is ice up in that area.

R2B

I think Resident 2B explained it well. Wolfeboro can best be described as being located in the south east portion of the lake.

Location by subwatershed
 

Sorry for the confusion. It is a bit obscure to talk about a north-east quadrant when the lake is laid out along the glacial NW to SE corrider. Perhaps a better way is to refer to the subwatersheds. The map of these can be seen at the winnipesaukeegateway.org site, under watershed maps (click the "display subwatersheds" button). So, in those terms, the Moultonborough Inlet sub-watershed is frozen solid and quite safe in most spots. The Moultonborough Bay sub-watershed (which would include Melvin Village) is somewhat frozen, but has large areas of open water. The singing sounds (in the M'bay Inlet sub) have been going on for over 24 hours. It is caused by cracks forming in the ice. Cracks can go for hundreds of yards, and as they tear along from one point to another, the sound moves like when a boat goes by.

I posted a few photos taken of Alton Bay yesterday.

Still shaking my head after watching the guy walking near the open water near the town beach! :eek:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...m/DSC_3584.jpg

better view here http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...hp?photo=18288

Definitely looks like open water a ways outside Melvin Village too. Love that singing ice sound too. Seems it is louder without snow on the ice.

Official 2012 Ice-in Thread
 

In keeping with tradition and philosophy (well mine anyway...) I am declaring this thread the Official Ice-in Thread rather than start a new one. Traditionally I start this thread in late Decemeber when it looks like the water is getting cold enough to freeze. It has been warm and I have been attending to other matters so am too late to start a new thread as this one has so much good info and pictures!

I love it when ice-in pics and discussion are all in one thread for easy reading. (again, just my philosophy, not a demand! :))

The Ice-In Pageisup at www.rattlesnakecam.com/icein.htm.

Here you can watch the lake freeze from many different cams. I think this is the 8th year the page has been live!

This year is a new cam.... one that has an incredible view, and is much welcome.

Please wander on over and see if you can find it! Thanks to our newest webcam operator!!!!

The lake temp reported by the dam operators is 35 degrees. The broads can freeze when this thermometer is at that reading or a little below. We don't really know what the lake temp is out there, this is just historically what has happened over the last several years.

Let it ice, let it ice, let it ice.......

IG :D

Sorry for being so late this year