Ice-in Watch 2007
 

Greetings All.... I know it seems like wishful thinking.... but here is this year's Ice-In Watch page.

Anyone who is willing to take a daily picture to post I will put it on the page... (email: rattlesnakecam@comcast.net)

We have never had representation from the Moultonborough area... is anyone there?? (even a weekly picture would help)

Use this thread to comment about Ice-in.... here we go!

The babes are dancin' again.

:coolsm: Island Girl, who really wants to go snowmobiling this year!


If you cannot click on links go to: http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/icein.htm

The Snow Gods of the West Taunt the Snow Gods of the East
 

No snow? ... well I have to tell you, the snow gods of the west are doing a great job http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/newyear2007/northwest.htm

My recent trip for the holidays saw the most lovely mountains just full of snow.... I think the Babes on Sleds have been leaning a little to the left in their dancing... lean to the right, lean to the right ....... get those snowflakes falling!!

someone has to say it . . .
 

Island Girl meet FLL . . . FLL meet Island Girl. OK?

I have been doing my best, dancing my boots off but alas . . . the ice that was out to Sandy Point has receded back toward the Bandstand. It's open water at Mee N Mac's. If this keeps up, we may have to wait another year for our overwhelming win in the bed race! Can we party anyways?;)

Ladies, I'm telling you. You are working too hard! Grab a drink, put your feet up, and relax. Then maybe we can do some winter sports! :rolleye2:

Memories coming back to me
 

Ok I am jealous...First you had all that wonderful snow for the holidays.... Second the second I looked at the picture in the thread, I got homesick...and I new instantly where you had been....and then I confirmed that by looking at the additional pictures you linked....I miss Washington....Having been born there There are many images I remeber....being in Snoqualmie Pass in that very parking lot many times is an image ingrained in my memory....

I just thank the lord you didn't put a picture of Rainer in the Post...I would have had to plan a trip had I scene that image....I hope you enjoyed your Visit to Washington the Pacific Northwest is truely a Gem.....

FLL, so sorry to hear of your trouble. Things generally happen for a reason. Time will help you. Anybody that would do that on Christmas Day, is just not nice. We second quilt lady's suggestion.... We'll be thinking about you and sending positive thoughts your way. Chin up!!

Ice Not In This Year Watch..
 

If there's no ice in 2007 does the person that won the 2006 Ice Out Contest win again with his April 3, 2006 guess by default....thus placing DRH in third place again??? Or is the winner Al Gore? And does the 'Mount' get out of Center Harbor whenever it pleases. Lots of questions to be answered. Too many things to think about during periods of hibernation.....

Someone else posted an earlier question that would be interesting to debate.

Do we declare ice out for 2007 as January 1st at 12:00 AM?

By the definition, it qualifies.

Official ice out is declared when the M/S Mount Washington can reach all 4 of its ports without touching ice. This usually occurs during April. The earliest recorded ice out was March 28th, 1921 and the latest was May 12th, 1888.

However, this brings up the interesting debate of whether you can have ice out when you've never had ice in.

Cutting the point even finer, one could argue that there was at least a momentary qualification point within the last week or two as there was a point where the Mount could not have reached all of it's ports without touching ice, even if that ice was just a momentary thin layer. Was that "ice in"?

Ok folks. Time to determine case law here! :idea:

Break out the jetskiis
 

If iceout has been declared... I am going to put in my jetski... Woo Hoo!!

IG

(I am still looking for a ride out to Rattlesnake Island to fix Snake Eyes.... there must be someone brave out there!!!)

Winter Not over yet
 

Let's remember last May when we were saying how low the lake was because of the lack of rain. Two weeks later we had more rain than we could handle and some were talking that the lake should be declared head speed only.
Watch out when it finally gets here.
Look at the amount of snow Denver has reeived in the past two weeks.

Ice out
 

Here is another theroy, Camp usually opens with the Mosquito's at least for me, and I think a few others. Yesterday in Newmarket my daughter killed her first mosquito for 2007.

Dancing like crazy with no results!!
 

QL,

I'm doing my darndest down here in NJ as well, but at 1 pm it's 71 degrees. I'll try leaning to the right as suggested, the left coast has enough snow. We need some of Denver's leftovers. We need some ice for February so our bed race entry can kick butt! We can party anyway just to celebrate being in NH instead of NJ or MA, right IG and Island Sib?

Like May!
 

I almost hate to tell you all this, but it's 62 degrees in West Alton today! Will winter ever come? :eek:

Heat wave
 

We woke up to 58 in Gilford (I took advantage of the rain this morning and slept until almost 9 am). :D

Later we went food shopping at MB in Tilton and the temp was 68 at about 1 pm.

At least we went skiing a few times last weekend at Gunstock...looks like it will be some time before we get to do that again. :rolleye2:

...talking about insects, saw something yesterday that looked like a large mosquito flying around in Meredith. Hmmm.....how about that, and today it felt like a sunny 70 degrees, shirtsleeve weather, in the very busy Wal-Mart parking lot in Plymouth? Thirty minutes later, it was raining and overcast?

Fll & Ig
 

Quilt Lady, I think IG knows him too well already to go out with him!
Fatlazyless, I am just kidding. (Perhaps you should post your photo in your user profile.)
By the way, Island Girl definitely would be a wonderful catch for you. She’s cute, likes to have fun and l-o-v-e-s the lake!
You could butter her up real nice if you could get her out to the island A.S.A.P. to fix her webcam.

It sure isn't looking good right now for the bed race, but this is New England.

Sounds like a great plan! :cheers:

74 degrees today in Haverhill MASS
 

Kinda sad to see the boat covered up in wrap on such a gorgeous day!! Has there been ANY ice on the lake? :rolleye2:

Great Trip
 

The trip was wonderful... especially my little grandchildren on Christmas morning...

I was at Snoqualmie Pass a couple of years ago.... but we did not tube. This time after a long, very long wait in line we got the last of the tickets. It was so cool.... just maybe my only snow of the season with the El Nino winter we are having. I did not see Rainier this time.... it is very impressive, though.

Where did you live there... my daughter is in Sammamish.

IG

As amazing as it may seem, despite the weather we've had the water temperature is only about 2 degrees off from the historical records on this site for early January. Now I know that it takes a lot of lost energy to drop that much water by 2 degrees. But if we ever get a few days/nights in a row where it stays below freezing, I'll bet it will skim over quickly.

Island Girl - they cancelled my kids' ski lessons at Snoqualmie West this morning because of too much snow! Unbelievable. We leave windy and warm NH a few days ago to return to icy and snowy WA. Must be a consequence of global warming... :confused:

- Frank

The Forum Hero of the Month - FLL
 

Answering my plea for a ride to Rattlesnake Island to fix Snake Eyes, FLL (FatLazyLess), who is neither fat, nor lazy, and most certainly not less, traveled from Flashing Light 3 in Meredith to W. Alton over a quite windy broads... to pick me up at the home of DRH and Quilt Lady. The ride out was nice... but quite rough on the broads side of the island. It took a while to get the cam operational and tested (more trouble with my router than the cam). FLL patiently waited as the day wore on and I worked on the tasks at hand.

Snake Eyes is now back so we can watch ice-in... if we ever have one... and it is all due to the courage of this great friend of the forum. If you think this is all bull... think about being alone for more than 10 miles on a lake where there is no one else and the water temps are less than 40 degrees...

Thank you so much FLL for spending the afternoon so forum folks can get their lake fix!!!!

Applause... Applause.

Well Done!
 

Kudos to IG and FLL! Snake Eyes is back!

And IG's right ... FLL is not "Fat", not "Lazy" and certainly not "Less"!

Curious minds need to know...

Did FLL opt for the chocolate or cheesecake?

FLL to the rescue! What a great story and thanks FLL!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
 

:D Fll and IG...finally tommorow a new day.
Since it stopped working everyday I would still check it out...kind of like the movie "Ground Hog Day" hoping eventually it would go back on...
Yes, I listened to IG's technical explaination but still held out hope it would just reset..
Now, lets have some weather with that cam;)

I whacked 2 unidentified flying insects yesterday, one here at the Weirs and one in Laconia!

Yes!!!
 

Hoorah!! Every day I look at the Weirs cam to see how things are at the lake and to check out the air temperature. Then I click on Snake Eyes to look out at my little piece of heaven (also known as Cow Island). I have sure missed Snake Eyes and I was fearful that it wouldn't get up and running until Island Girl was able to get there by snowmobile (which as we all are fearful, might not happen). So, thanks to FLL and Island Girl both whose posts I faithfully follow on the Forum. Hoorah!!

Shhhh
 

Nice Job FLL!
 

Bravo fatlazyless! Today you are my hero! (How did you come up with such a name? It sounds like it's so wrong! :confused: )
Were you at all nervous being on the lake for such a distance with the water temps so low? Was I right that IG is a lot of fun to be around? ;)

Thank you Island Girl for sharing this excellent story. (You lucky woman getting out to our island!)

Many thanks to both of you, nice job! I bet many of your forum friends will be smiling all day. :D

Still can't see Snake Eyes
 

I still see Snake Eyes with the December 10th date::-(

I think you just need to refresh your browser. The Snake Eyes picture shows today's date, Jan. 8, 2007.

Try this
 

Refresh your browser a few times... also you can try clearing your browser cache. If you are using internet explorer, click of tools, internet options, in the middle section called "temporary internet files", click on the delete files button and wait until this is finished. There is no danger here of deleting anything important... it is just a storage place for frequently used internet pages.

IG

Ice Expert - Explains it all
 

Interesting story in todays Citizen...

Everything you ever wanted to know about ice formation.

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...081/-1/CITIZEN

Thanks IG & FLL!
 

Yeaaa! :) The Snake Eyes view from here in NJ is great!! I nominate FLL for hero of the month (maybe even the year). Perhaps we can bring some NY style cheesecake when we drive up next month.

Hopefully we will soon be able to see some ice forming on the breakwater. I'm still dancing in the hope that by the time we arrive in Feb. the Babes On Sleds will be in action.

FLL, accross the broads in that boat this time of year? You've got a set big enough to bring in a dump truck!

I lived in two locations in Washington. I was born in Seattle, and lived there on two seperate occasions...I first time we lived in Renton, and the Second time we lived in Federal Way. I also lived on the otherside of the mountians down along the Columbia River, in an area known as the Tri-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland). It was always amazing to travel around out there, so many climates...I can remember early winter trips leaving Seattle in the rain, finding snow in the mountains, only to some out the other side of the the cascades into tumbleweed and brush......In fact...this year winter out here reminds me a lot of winter in the Tri-cities, small amounts of snow that disappear with in days......

A real MAN
 

It takes a real man to be out in what appears to be a Starcraft Islander. :cheers:

Ah, I can see the lake now!:)

Chieftan
 

I do believe it is a Starcraft Chieftan..

Thank You
 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU IG and FLL you are my heros.I am begining to feel normal agian if that is possible.
It really was like groundhog day.
Hope we get some ice for the bed race.:)

Forced re-fresh
 

A cool trick if you don't want to clear your cache -- you can add a "?r" at the end of the URL to force a re-fresh, like so:

http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/?r

This tricks your browser in to thinking it's an entirely new URL, and thus a fresh, un-cached copy. I guess my "cammo-nerd" cover has been blown :cool:

Also, Kudos to FLL and IG for getting Snake Eyes back up and running, and I'm sure everyone is jealous of our Colorado snow!

My bad
 

You are right the cabin is too high for an Islander.

...a mini cabin cruiser!
 

As always, the wind weather and waves are the big boss on the Big Lake. Especially true for an 18' aluminum boat in January, but I felt safe and secure yesterday as I boated from Meredith Neck to Rattlesnake Island. The earlier white caps had calmed away so the water was smooth enough. Rounding the south end of Rattlesnake with Island Girl, a couple of large swells definately got my attention but otherwise it was a fun-run and good for repairing the Snake Eyes web-cam.
About my boat; it is a '74 Starcraft Starchief with a '00 Suzuki 70hp four-stroke. It has an enclosed bow area with a high windshield so spray coming over the bow is not too much of a problem. Suzuki makes a terrific outboard, or at least my Zuki is terrific! It always starts easy, runs quiet, is reliable and sips gas. I can go all over Winnipesaukee on a six-gallon tank with a two-gallon backup spare.
While an 18'er is probably considered too small by many, it works for me and it definately gives you that feeling of being close to the water, like a surfboard or something, that you just don't get in the bigger boats.



"...boats are like people; it's not the age, it's the condition!"

Wow. Now my mental image of FLL is forever shattered.

;)

First kayak trip for 2007
 

Saturday was so beautiful that I took out my kayak and paddled from around Echo Point down to Sandy Point and back. It was an amazing day. I didn't have to worry about any boat wakes for the whole trip! Soon after I got back a big rain and wind storm blew through which seemed to clear out any ice that had formed down by the beginning of the bay. Does that count as ice out?
I also saw my first robin of the year so I guess that oficially makes it spring.

And my forsythia is blooming!:confused: :confused: :confused: Only one small, but quite noticeable yellow flower. Hope the others sit tight for several more months.

FLL, I was jealous to see the pix of you out on your boat in early January. If mine wasn't deep in a storage shed, I'd be out there, too - if only to say I've done it. And 18' is just fine. Mine is a 15 year-old 20 footer, a real beater of a boat but I love it. I have no desire for anything newer or bigger. :coolsm: :coolsm: :coolsm:

70+
 

Down here is was over 70 on Saturday so I washed the truck. So blame me for the rain today. The blue berry bushes where I work are starting to bud it is so spring like I can't stand it.

Will the lake freeze this year? I hope so. Perhaps if every one puts their boats back in the lake the temps will drop and the snow will fly. I have not even looked at my snow blower in the hope it will snow. Reverse psychology!

And 18' is plenty. We have a 20 year old 19 footer and that handles what we need. The first boat was a 15' Starcraft and that boat was used more in two weeks of vacation than many of the big boats are used all season.

Remember it is not the size of the boat but the motion of the ocean!

Swimming??
 

I understand some of the kids in Wolfeboro went swimming last weekend. At least they got their feet wet. Anyone else go in.
I walked the beach in FLorida.

Mee too
 

Saturday was definately a hard day to beat...I took my canoe down the Northside of Long Island....it was a remarkable experiece.... I noticed a few others with the same idea.....

Yup,I have to say I see FLL in a different light now.Great job,Great friend!

Do I see a hint of white?
 

Just looking at the Weirscam and I thought I saw a hint of white up in the mountains.
Wishful thinking?

Wishing might make it so
 

I see ice in Smith Cove, and snow on some mountains from one of the BearCams. All of our wishing is having an impact! lol :D

... and speaking of the BearCams.... the owner of them, Bear Islander, is in Antartica... pretty amazing pictures if you are interested. http://www.rl99.com/.

If the wind gods could just cool their jets and let the lake skim over we could be on our way to some winter fun!

IG.... who is tired of looking at the snowmobile in the garage.... wants to see it at the lake!

Stop What you are doing now!!!
 

Go and look at the webcams.... it is 10:33 am on Jan 12 and the various cams are showing particularly gorgeous views of the lake.... wish I was there!!! :emb:

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

The views from the summit of Gunstock were magnificent yesterday. I wish that I had my camera with me!

Smith Cove has lost ice cover over the last few weeks, it was locked in pretty well but is back to a skim.

I'm seeing a light coating of snow on all the cams this morning except snake eyes which, once again, appears to be plunged into darkness. Looks like another trip to the island may soon be in order! More snow predicted over the next two days! I like to check out THIS WEB CAM for current conditions and rate of snow fall since it is "near" real time. I'd like to help you out Island Girl....do you think we could make it over to snake eyes in kayaks like this guy photographed recently in Alton Bay?
(courtesy photo by George Murphy as seen in the Baysider)

I shaved off all my hair today, so get your skis and sleds out folks. The cold air should be here any time now. :D

Low and behold!:eek: Ya'll may be interested in seeing the forcasted temps on Accuweather.com and Weather.com. I should have shaved my head two months ago!

The power seems to be off on Rattlesnake... phones just ring and ring... no answering machines... and the power company's boat is not in the water... so we wait for another solution!

Check out Lake Wentworth cam!

Woo Hoo!!
 

Here is the link.... now if the wind would just die down.

http://www.lwa.org/index.php?option=...ebcam&Itemid=5

IG

Some promise at last!
 

Winnipesaukee's waves rolled a lot more sluggishly than normal today as nearly a half-inch of sleet fell on top of 2 inches of snow, and the temperature remained around 21 F all day.

It is ready to freeze, and the shoreline ice formations that formed from splashover 2 days ago still have not melted which is a great sign. Now the computer models show Wednesday's daytime high struggling to reach 10, and two straight nights of below-zero followed by strong hints of another cold wave for the upcoming weekend.

We're going to see this thing freeze by the end of the week!

...what to do...what to do?
 

Is the ice-in finally gonna get here.....the temp has dropped over ten degrees down to 18 in the past two hours....should I play it safe and remove my boat...or leave it in....are these colder but not real cold temps just a temporary cold couple of days before it goes back up to the mid thirties or what? Think I'll pull my boat before the launch ramp gets iced and wait for a big fast ice-in................swoooooosh......the sound of water changing to ice!

It's time to give in!!
 

FLL,
It's time to get that wonderful craft out of the water while you can! The 6-10 day outlook for temps is for way below normal through the end of the month. Real winter is just around the corner.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...10temp.new.gif

BT

You know Les,I don't agree with a lot of your views but my hats off to you for your failure to give in to the end of summer.Are you sure your not a true old time yankee rebublican in liberal clothing?I think I'd get that aluminum yacht out of the water today or at least by the end of the week.God bless you,you old yankee!!

I dunno, I'd bet there will be clear sailing between at least Meredith and the Weirs for the rest of the winter.....:confused:

Yup, winter's here
 

Winds gusting to 22 mph out of the northwest, temps falling from a morning high of 20... this is more like it! The only thing out-of-place is the white-caps where ever-flowing rivers of blowing snow (atop a smooth hard surface known as ICE) should be.

Winter's here for at least the predictable future. Got two more storm systems coming up the coast, and regardless of their track (snow or no snow?) they'll pull down more Canadian cold air as they exit. For more info I maintain a weather page geared toward New England at www.blackcatnh.com/weather.

Check this graphic out - it's this afternoon's watch/warning summary from the National Weather Service. Look at it and ask yourself, "Global warming?"

These two tell it like it is - cold in those southern homes...

http://image.weather.com/images/maps...mp_600x405.jpg


.

....a starting problem.
 

gee whiz.....thanks for all the moral support....ran into a not-so-minor problem(s) today.....first, after cleaning about two inches of crusty frozen rain-snow-slush off the boat and boat cover....one side of the boat lift was frozen in the up position....after tapping on the lift and ice w/ a small mason's hammer, got that free'd up pretty easy.....next problemo and a bigger one....it's the normally terrific Suzuki outboard.....I think probably the Suzuki is not getting any gasoline....it started right up and ran for three minutes and then died and will not restart....it cranks good and there's enough juice in the battery to work the trim & tilt, but the engine won't fire up, like it's not getting any gas.....maybe a .......something frozen(?) except gasoline does not freeze .....it's a problem that needs to be addressed probably before the looming ice-in. While there is still absolutely no ice to be seen within miles I know it's out there.....da-da.....da-da-da..(theme from Jaws the movie here)......later.....tomorrow should be another day?

Get that boat out tomorrow
 

Hey there FLL,

The forecast for Wed night from 10pm on is for low temps and no wind... the lake could skim over and you would be SOL. Is your gas line frozen?

IG

If not tomorrow, definitely Thursday
 

Only the wind is keeping it liquid now. A Thursday Ice-in will depend on how much ice can form Wednesday night with calm winds and temps near zero. Thursday afternoon's temps near 32 and winds from the SW would break up any ice that's too thin to survive, but a few more snowflakes are moving in for Friday so anything that's not frozen by Friday night will freeze within a few days.

Tom Chisholm on Ch. 8 tells of models hinting at a cold air mass that's as cold as air gets in North America, coming out of Siberia and crossing Canada, arriving here by the end of the month. Winter, at last!!!

BTW does anyone know if there are records for Ice-In, and if so, what the latest recorded Ice-In has ever been? I've googled around and found only the ice-OUT records.

Sounds like a frozen fuel line.....
 

Less,

Unfortunately, it sounds like a frozen fuel line is the likely problem and with these tempatures it will not be easy to thaw it.

I would carefully try a hair drier, but the chances of it working are not high. Warm water poured over accessable areas of the line is perhaps a safer idea. If this does not work, consider running a temporary new line from the tank to the engine. This will cost some money, but you do not have much time to get the boat out. In either case, I would first treat the tank with dri-gas to get at any additional water that may be present and not yet frozen.

If your tank is not full and if you used your boat a when it was warmer, as we know you did, you likely drew in relatively moist air that condensed into water when it got cold. The water likely stayed as water in your tank due to the volume of the gas in the tank, but froze when you pulled it into the feed line to the engine. If you have some metal in the feed line, I would hit it first with the hair drier or even grab it with your hand for a few minutes. Be very careful with the drier and any gas fumes.

I am not up at the lake. If I was I would try to help directly. One good turn attracts another!

Good Luck!

R2B

R2B:

Since these 4-stroke motors are cooled by water, couldn't there be some frozen water somewhere as well???

ice in view!
 

nice sunrise this morning and shows a skim of ice on the Pine Island Cam!

PIG

Boy FLL, I'm really worried for you now. All of the above suggestions are good. I am going to assume that you have a portable fuel tank?? Disconnect it and bring it and the hose into the house to warm up. Go for the dry gas too. If you have the ability to get power to the dock either use the hairdryer (not that you would have one!) or put a floodlight or light bulb directly on the engine power head. You'll be amazed at the amount of heat that will transfer to the engine. Good Luck

Blue Thunder

Ice Coming Soon?
 

Bitter cold weather has finally arrived at the lake. It's -4 degs here in West Alton this morning. The wind howled all night and kept the lake churned up ... we recorded a 44 mph gust about 10:30 PM last night.

When (if) the wind dies, I think we're going to see ice forming quickly.

Here's a photo taken from our window at 8:00 am. (It's too cold & windy to go outside!)

http://www.echoshores.com/ice-in/2007/011707.jpg

http://www.echoshores.com/ice-iin/2007/011707.jpg

Cool....I mean COLD!
 

:) That's great news DRH!

And if we do get the snow & ice predicted over the next two months, hopefully I'll be able to sled up & over the mountain and sneak down your way for a cup of joe!:)

I highly doubt that you would see enough ice in the next 24 hours to be considered an ice-in. A lot of the shorelines still do not have much if any ice buildup. I would expect another 4-5 days if things stay this cool before you see anything serious taking place. There is enough wind to keep it moving and it certainly takes a lot to skim over the broads. Some of the channels, coves and between the islands will start but I do not think we are quite there yet. I am hoping for a final boat ride on Saturday.

This morning, while looking at all of the web cams, at two different times - I saw what seemed to be the same vessell in both the Pine Island cam view and the Bear Island cam view.
Now, from the map illustration on the Bear Island site, I know these two islands are next to each other, I guess I just never realized which direction the Pine Island cam was facing. So, I assume the Pine Island cam faces east? So when looking at the Bear Island Cam, are one of the homes that are in view on Pine Island that of the Pine Island Cam?
Just curious...

We'll have to wait and see... I've seen a half-inch of ice form on the open lake overnight (in past years) if the air is cold enough (below zero) and winds are calm. If tomorrow's SW wind doesn't get strong enough to break it up, it will survive to meet Friday's snow and then the next arctic blast on Saturday. This morning we're seeing rapid cooling of the water, with a steady stream of arctic sea smoke blowing down the open lake and a low of -2 on Black Cat Island. If for some reason the ice doesn't thicken enough by Friday, it may stay open till Monday since we have more strong winds coming up for Saturday.

But all details aside, the moral of the story is, "if you left anything in the water that you want to take out, now is the time to take it out."

Check out this morning's cam view...

here's pic #2
 

Bear Island Cam...

The steam rising off Paugus Bay this morning was blowing over Rt. 3 and freezing into a "ice fog"(?). Does that sound plausible? Either way it was pretty neat to drive through.

Here's the picture of Meredith Neck, noon, 17 Jan -- from a Webcam.

Water Temp
 

Did anyone notice but the water temp now is actually 1 degree lower than it was last year. Was there ice last year at this time?

While stationed in Alaska, we had to deal with ice fog a lot. It would typically form when the temps got to about -20 degrees, and actually is the moisture in the air freezing. It would coat cars, power lines, trees, etc with a coating of "frost", which could build up over a period of time (days). You didn't have to be around any body of water.

I am guessing what you encountered is more like "freezing rain", where the fog, albeit cold, was more like the freezing rain, which freezes on contact with the ground, cars, trees and other surfaces.

Just a humble guess, but you are right, "ice fog" can be a neat thing.

Sweet. So if it was 35 last year it couldn't have been frozen. I had 4-8" halfway down meredith bay last year. Maybe this year will be enough so I can bring my bob house out. Just built a new one last summer. I just need to get my flight back for the derby.

Ice Fog is real
 

On Mount Washington it's a trademark, and they report it as "Freezing Fog." It builds into big beautiful feathers of rime ice that are a photographer's dream especially if the sun comes out.

If you want to see some fascinating winter stuff like that, take out a Mount Washington Observatory membership (www.mountwashington.org) and sign up to be a winter volunteer for a week. They'll make you try it this summer before letting you come up next winter, but it's well worth the amazing experience!

...no car...no boat...it's real cold out, too!
 

Living down on that poor side of the Big Lake, things just seem to go from bad to worse. Maybe, I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree for leaving the boat in the lake so late into the winter, but what can I say?

Driving down Rt 93 early this morning from WV to Meredith, my car, a real nice '95 Ford Contour with a four cyl-5 speed with only 154k easy highway miles on it decides to stop running. Pulling into the break-down lane and lifting up the hood, hot steam is pouring out from all over the engine. Got it towed into Ashland, and it works out that fixing it would cost way more than its worth; no compression in one cylinder due to a warped cylinder head or cracked block or both. Plus, I ain't got no money for this no way, anyway.

It's about 2pm by the time I get started back on the frozen outboard. First, I bring the six gallon gas tank inside and set it close to the propane heater while the fuel line with primer bulb, that goes into the 103d hot tub, which should thaw it out fast.

Next, it all gets rehooked to the outboard for another try at starting. It's a no-start, so maybe it's the fuel filter or fuel line or something under the cowl. Anyway, with temps running below 10 and it's almost dark out I decide to call it quits until tomorrow. Best to quit today......probably using a hot air heat gun would have me setting the whole engine on fire today....and it is a terrific engine.

No ice to be seen yet anywhere from Horse to Mark to Timber to Gov, but with my 'good' planning that may change overnight.....ugh!

There's not much luck when all you can count on is dumb luck!

Hey Fat, if you leave your boat in, I'll buy you a new one this spring. I need ice!!;)

You may be lucky!
 

It's 1:30 am, and the night's cooling seems to have ended unexpectedly. The day's Northwest wind dropped off to calm for just a couple of hours this evening - not the predicted all-nighter - and now the high pressure has moved off the coast 12 hours early. In the last hour the wind has shifted into the "warm" Southwest, bringing a few clouds like beach blankets in the sky. The temperature has responded by slowly creeping upward - adding 2 degrees since midnight. Out on the porch I hear lapping sounds of wavelets from that SW wind. Freezing tonight? I have to eat my words now. Saturday looks to be a verrrryy windy day to keep the water open. Someone up there might just be waiting for you to get that boat out of the water before allowing the lake to freeze.

OK, this just in live from the big beach here at the Weirs. During my morning jog I went on down to the beach and low and behold, we have a skim of ice from at least the beach/channel to the Pier, maybe further but its too dark still to tell! It was all wide open last night at sunset.:D

same here, skim-over
 

The skim-over is visible on the open lake, too, as evidenced in this morning's view.

Skim Ice in West Alton, too
 

The temp. this morning is about 5 degs. The wind finally died last night and the lake skimmed over. It isn't very thick, but it's a start. Here's what the lake looks like in front of our house this morning:

http://www.echoshores.com/ice-in/2007/011807.jpg

Hope for no wind
 

I hope the wind doesn't pick up over there...In vermont where I have to be when I am not at Winni. lake Champlain is Stirring herself into a frenzy again breaking up what ice has formed....

So far, no wind here
 

The ice that formed last night was just a skim-over and the fist-sized rock I tossed punched right through it, but at 9:30 a.m. it's still not going anywhere. At Black Cat Island it's puffing occassionally out of the WSW at 1-3 mph and the temp is 10 F. If anything has its way with the ice today it'll probably be the sun, but if it can thicken enough to survive Saturday's 40+ mph winds it'll be in for the season. For now here's what it looks like.

CanisLupusArctos and upthesaukee, thanks for the responses. I missed your posts this morning when I first posted. At least I feel better, I was starting to think I was seeing things before the coffee set in!

The ice,the ice,never looked so nice!

Ugh the wind is doing its thing this afternoon
 

From what I can see... there is a lot of open water this afternoon that was skimmed over this morning...

Two years ago on this date it was open water, but on the 20th it was ice. Our dear mother nature will do what she wants.... please please mommy can we have some ice!!! :emb: :emb: :emb:

The ice survived here
 

Good news from Black Cat Island - the ice between here and Three Mile Is., and as far SE as I can see (Steamboat & Rattlesnake) has survived the day, even with winds gusting to 16 mph and bright sun. These pics are from about 3:30 p.m. One looks SE to Rattlesnake Is. and the other SW toward Beaver Is. The ice between here and Three-Mile is a half-inch thick. There's snow coming tomorrow with more cold on Saturday! Now let's just hope it helps thicken the lake ice enough to survive Saturday's winds.

Do any of you know the conditions in Moultonborough near Buzzels Cove, Trexlers Marina and Randalls Island area? That's where I am scheduled to be in 2 1/2 weeks. I use Randalls island as a shelter from the wind. Thanks.

Fatlazy:

Were you able to get the motor working and the boat out? Hopefully, things worked out for you.