Wind = Bad
 

Looking at a few cams. Lots of wind and very little ice!!!!!

Braun Bay across to the broads has no visible ice. Large sheets of thin ice floated away with the winds this morning and is now dissolved.

Prediction for the next several days
 

What we need now is the wind to die down while it is still cold. The water is cold now and the air is very cold. If the wind dies down, the lake should skim over.

However, if we get a lot of snow right after the lake skims over, it will not be good. The snow will slow down ice growth and create unsafe conditions that might look very safe to some people.

Unfortunately, it is looking like the wind will die down Wednesday evening into Thursday, while still below freezing. This should make the lake skim over. The bad news is it looks like a good amount of snow for Thursday night into Friday, perhaps a bit longer. If this happens, it will not be good news for the growth of solid, black ice. It will also create a safe looking lake, that is really not safe in all areas.

R2B

The Weirs cam was showing ice forming in Weirs Bay.

Predictions
 

I agree with R2B. The lake could skim over tonight, though the temp at the Weirs is still 35, a tad warm. The last 24 hours has been very cold which will continue tonight with little wind. I would hope all the snow would just sink the thin ice. We don't want the season to start with poor quality ice.

I was disabled most of last winter and could not snowmobile. This year I am ready to go... the sled goes in for some work next week and then I will be ready...

Go Ice!!!
IG

Maybe I should change my name from Island Girl to Ice Girl for the winter!

There is now a light skim of ice in front of Black Cat.

Ice from Braun Bay to the broads this morning.

Snake Eyes
 

This morning most of the webcams showed a skim of ice. Snake Eyes showed open water... a bit of a ripple. Right now it is very calm and looks like it could skim over. (I hope not) It is about 21 degrees and the lake temp at the Weirs is 35.

Look here for the last 1.5 hours of Snake Eyes images. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, the latest image is blown up to view finer detail.

http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/snakeeyesall.htm

For all the lake cams at a glance, http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/icein.htm

And for all the cams with other lakes
http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/lakecams.htm


Snake Eyes, Your headquarters for Ice-In!! :D

IG

Snow
 

It has just begun to snow here in central MA....:coolsm:

Happy New Year

This morning there was a skim of ice from Belknap Point out to Welch Island with small patches of open water. The Broads appeared to be open.

Can't Wait!
 

That's good news slickcraft. ;) Won't be long before the bob house goes out!

Happy New Year to you and yours! :cheers:

Dan

Thanks 308 and the best to you guys.

Hopefully the weekend storm will break-up the ice skim so that the snow melts in the lake. Otherwise a blanket of insulating snow on thin ice will slow the formation of good ice as well as creating a false sense of security.

Dear Slickraft...
 

Not to worry, we have some of the very best fisher folk on this planet that auger there way out, measure ice thickness, and give the rest of us the green light when all is safe! Noth'in but the Best for us here in the Lakes Region! :) :) :) :)

ice fishing in Center Harbor
 

I spotted some ice fishermen and even a few bob houses out on the ice in Center Harbor on my way to work this morning.

Bob Houses?
 

There are Bob houses now out in Center Harbor? Anymore on the lake?

There's one out in Hubbard Bay

Thanks to all for keeping this flatlander up to date on ice conditions.

Alton Bay ice fishing
 

Seven bob houses on the ice in Alton Bay this morning and many hopeful fishing folk out on the ice. Give a choice of cleaning out the basement today or going fishing in the snow, it looks like fishing won out.

Moultonborough Bay Cam
 

There's one in the northern part of Moultonborough Bay, as seen on the Wab Cam (saw some sleds out there too..)

http://www.lakesregionwireless.net/bay/webcam.html

There are two on Winter Harbor by the Libby Museum. One is very close to shore.

Poof! Gone
 

Much of the broads is open water again... though big ice floes are wandering by Snake Eyes. Hopefully it will freeze overnight Tuesday to Wednesday with a forecast of 5mph. The wind forecast for the next week after that is a tad too breezy. Ugh!

IG

So judging by the Weirs cam and some others, the ice is "slush" ice not clear solild ice. The recent snow did what everyone was fearing it was going to do. Anyone have a report on Meredith bay ice? Any houses out there?

There are several Bob Houses out in 19 mile bay as well. Been there for a few days.

Belknap Point; Gilford docks
 

There is open water again from Belknap Point out to Welch however there is "slush" ice to the north.

While the area near the Gilford Town docks is frozen in, there are no bob houses to be seen there today nor was there anyone out on the ice.

Thanks Slickcraft...
 

for the update! Maybe by next weekend (if the weather holds) I can get the bob house out on the ice at Glendale.

Dan

States Landing
 

The States Landing Beach/Balmoral/Suissevale area is pretty solid, there are a half dozen or so Bob Houses out there already.

Given how cold it has been, the many reports of bob houses already out, the beginnings of the airport in Alton Bay, etc, it is startling to look at the Snake Eye's webcam and see nothing but a wide expanse of open, rough water. I'm sure it will skim over quickly if the wind dies down... though that is not expected over the next several days.

I hope people continue to treat the ice with caution. Clearly there is still a lot more freezing needed before venturing far offshore.

Centre Harbor Pics
 

I have read that there are Bob houses in Centre Harbor. Does anyone have some pictures they could post? Thanks.

Does anyone have a rule of thumb in terms of how long after the ice freezes is it "safe?"

What I'm asking I guess is what is the rate that ice is "made" once it freezes over. Is it measured in "inches per night" during subfreezing temp nights?

Hazelnut,

I found this last year when I was wondering the same thing. I'm sure opinions differ, but this chart looked to be very complete and had a good disclaimer at the bottom.

does anybody know if it is safe to get over to cow island

Ice Thickness/24 hours
 

My experience over 40 years of iceboating has been that if the air temperature stays below 20 degrees, an Inch of ice can be made every 24 hours if there is an inch or so to start with, which will prevent the wind from tearing up the surface ice. The chart above pretty much confirms this rule of thumb.

I have sailed on 2 1/2 inches of NEW black ice. I have also gone swimming when I hit slightly thinner ice....in the rain. :D I could actually see the ice around me bending, forming a depression under the combined weight of myself and the boat as I sailed over it.

A 12 foot long DN iceboat (~150#) with an 8 foot wide runner plank spreads the weight of boat plus driver over a triangular area of perhaps 40 square feet. A snowmobile spreads its weight over a triangle formed by the crosswise distance between the skis, and the rear of the track, with most of the weight on the area of the track in contact with the ice. Combine the weight of a snowmobile and rider and you have a LOT of weight on a small area. NB

NEVER SAIL or SNOWMOBILE ALONE on the ice. ALWAYS have a companion nearby on ANOTHER Iceboat/Snowmobile.

Bob Houses
 

When I left yesterday there were 2 bob houses on both sides of the Long Island Bridge (windward and leeward sides).
There was also one in Center Harbor about half way down the harbor...pretty far out on the ice that is not that thick

Wolfeboro Bay
 

Has anybody seen activity in Wolfeboro Bay ? I want to head out to Barndoor Island on derby weekend. We went up on derby weekend in 2007 & 2009 and did'nt catch a thing. This year I think we'll cut a hole in the ice !!!:laugh:

And always carry your ice picks around your neck when on the ice.

Stay Safe Out On The Ice...
 

And know how to survive, if the unexpected should happen. Never go it alone, and never consider the ice as safe on any body of water!

How to survive falling through the ice... Video from the Discovery Channel; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysnKtuUTt8k

Terry

The Citizen had a pic of ice fishing on Center Harbor accompanying an article on the web site today (might have been in the print edition too): Citizen article

Thanks for the link.
That was some video.

Careful! An article in tday's paper has this statement:

"Center Harbor Fire Chief John Schlemmer said the bobhouses that fisherman put out last week have all been brought back to shore."

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...866/-1/CITIZEN

was over on the north end of the lake this afternoon looks pretty safe. There is a bunch of bob houses from cow island all the way over to melvin village down to lees mills.