Ice-Out 2010 Declared
 

<center><font size="4" face="Arial">&quot;Ice-Out&quot; on </font><font color="#000080" face="Arial" size="4"><strong>Lake Winnipesaukee</strong></font><font face="Arial" size="4"> was officially declared on<br></font><font size="5" face="Arial"><strong>Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 2:00 pm.</strong></font>
<p><font size="3" face="Arial">Citizen Article</font></center>

And no one, absolutely no one, should have the nerve to mention anything about g**** w***ing just because this is by far the earliest Ice Out ever. So don't even try!

Away from home
 

Now that ice-out is here I am getting home sick. I have been in Virginia working for the last 4 weeks and have one more to go, then straight to the lake for the holiday weekend. Maybe splash the jetski.

History of Ice out dates
 

I know this one is early, if not the earliest. Does anyone have the link to the Ice Out table from 1880s to recent years? It used to be available and easy to find; now I can't find it anywhere.

Ice out table: http://www.winnipesaukee.com/index.php?pageid=iceout

As for the remark about Global Warming and this early ice out, it is what it is and we have to deal with it.

I for one think that the lake iced out early because most of the ice was bare, black ice on account of all the snow storms that went south of us this past winter. In February as the sun started getting stronger, this dark, clear ice warmed up much faster than white, snow encrusted ice would have. But there is no doubt that the beginning of March was way warmer than normal too.

There is a great one located on nhboat.com

http://www.nhboat.com/Nhboat/Features/ice-out.htm

GLOBAL WARMING!!!!! We got all the snow in So. Jersey 70+ inches. Broke all records back to 1886 when somebody started recording!

welcome spring!
 

Let the games begin! First time up is Easter weekend. Be careful out there boating.............:)

Just from memory...nothing scientific; November was a very warm month, December was a cold month, January was split cold/warm 50-50, February was a warm month, and March has been a warm month.

Regrettably, something tells me that the flip side of this will be for May-June-July-August to be cool & wet months.

The Town of Meredith needs to build a new, heated indoor swimming pool and ice arena to make life for its' residents and neighbors just a little more comfy during these changing weather times!

I Think Scooby-Doo Said...
 

"Rots O Ruck", fll...

Let the Spring and Summer games begin!!!!


Terry
_______________________________________

The 2010 Farmer's Almanac says a cool, but dry summer. Look at the map on page 80.

Lack of snow
 

I believe it was the lack of snow, as well as the ice color, and well-timed strong winds that contributed to the early iceout this year. The ice froze right on average timing, and it got thick enough for human activity a lot earlier than it has in recent years. It supported the weight of trucks out in places where trucks can't go during the years when the ice stays thin all winter.

However, there was no snow after January. We got 50 inches of snow (for the season) at Black Cat, and a fair amount more outside the "shadow" of the Ossipees that occurs when we get snow driven by northeast winds.

The dry weather was due largely to storm track. Most of the storms were tracking south of here. The cold air DID make it incredibly far south this winter (ask anyone in Florida or the Gulf Coast states, most of which got accumulating snow this winter.) Once again, the cold air was on a trajectory that missed New England.

The lake has a short season of ice growth -- the shortest days/longest nights of the year are about it. Once that sun starts getting higher in the sky around mid-February, the lake needs snow on top of it to take the beating from the sun. We didn't get that, this year.

However, we can't say there was no snow in New England. In late February, the dry spell ended. Rainstorms occurred at the lake's elevation, but notice that the local mountain ranges are STILL white. It turned out to be a fantastic snow year for elevations above 1500 feet.

Black ice is usually pretty strong ice, indicating solid, clear (not flaky) ice. It's great in midwinter. Without a reflective white fluffy coat of snow on top of it, the black ice becomes its own worst enemy come spring.

Finally, this year at the end of February when the other forces had already weakened the ice a bit, we had those rain storms with wind. The late February storm brought wind gusts to 60 mph. The storm of the 13th to the 15th of this month brought 3 days of 40+ mph wind, peaking out at 56 mph. Both wind events did a number on the ice.

Thus, we have a rare start to the boating season upon us: The ice is out while we still have plenty of reminders of winter still visible. This year it will actually be possible to cruise around and observe snow-covered mountains and perhaps even go boating in the snow, because it's not too unusual for us to get snow showers here and there, in late March and early April.

Always Calling Winnipesaukee's Local Weather...
 

At it's very best! Thanks to Our very own Cat'LA!!!!
Carrying on in our beloved Don Kent's Lakes Region footsteps.
God Bless and Best Wishes...

Terry
______________________________

No Ice-out at Kings Bluff
 

Still cannot get my boat into the harbor.:laugh:

I agree. Canis, that's really a great summation of the ice, ice-out sequence this year.:)

Picture I took this morning in Winter Harbor. (blog post here)

http://www.dailywolfeboro.com/blog/w...free_winni.jpg

Dailywolfboro
 

Great perspective, hope you didn't fall in taking that one

Lake Level
 

Now that the ice is gone what should we expect for early lake levels. If you look at the chart, this year is the soonest with the highest lake levels. With the mountain snows not yet melted I would assume that we might see some early record high levels.

The National Weather Service is looking for above normal temps July through December !!

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...al.php?lead=01

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...long_range.gif

I'm hoping they are right.

Do we have a winner declared yet?

Still some thick ice in Roberts cove where all the snow blew in. Making the ice melt much slower then the black ice we had on the rest of the lake... This pic was taken today from the ice its still very thick.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs436...._7650196_n.jpg

Ice clears Lake Winnipesaukee early, breaking record
 

ICE-OUT made the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre...ears_lake.html

I agree with this. I agreed with it, even before the ice went out. The lake level is spiking and there are signs now that we will see yet more heavy rain early next week. I will start a "Flood potential" thread in the weather section that we can use throughout the spring.