Ice-in Watch 2007

[HomeWood]

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.

[secondcurve]

Fatlazy:

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

[Weirs guy]

Weirs Bay and Lake Winnisquam both seem to have kept the skimming they got last night.

[BoulderBronco]

Time to buy my flight for the Derby.

[Gatto Nero]

Looking good in front of Black Cat

[gtxrider]

Freeze Baby Freeze!

I was snowing down here in Joisey when I left home for work at 6:00AM. The drive way was covered with the white stuff.


Keep on dancing!

[HomeWood]

We don't want too much snow, but this should be good for tomorrow since it's supposed to be windy and maybe this will help protect the ice that is there.

[DRH]

Unfortunately, the ice didn't hold in this part of the lake. It's now open water from the Minge Cove area in West Alton all the way across the lake to Wolfeboro. Here's this morning's view, taken from just west of Minge Cove and looking east. Treasure Island is on the left side of the shot, with the eastern tip of Rattlesnake is behind it:

[Merrymeeting]

Looks like ice everywhere when viewing the cameras this morning. Friday's winds may not matter if it's skimmed over everywhere as it appears it will be.

Merrymeeting closed up overnight too. http://65.175.136.103/view/view.shtml

Let's hope that everyone stays off the ice until it thickens enough. Seems every year that we hear an unfortunate story of someone who ventured out too early or too far.

Now all we need is a good nor'Easter!

[Weirs guy]

Weirs Bay seemed very solid this morning for the short time its been iced in. Oh yeah, a note to any Laconia city workers perusing the forum, time to turn on the town docks bubblers!

[Blue Thunder]

FLL,
What's up with the boat...any luck???? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

BT

[fatlazyless]

All the launch ramps are iced in as of today, Shep Brown's, Meredith Town Docks, Glendale, Weirs Channel, Meredith Marina: all inaccessible. The ice looks very thin and tonight's winds and 26 degrees could make some changes.......sorry ice fans! For now, it looks like my boat is ice bound for the duration...whenever? The area from buoy 3-Horse Isl to Bear-Mark-Timber-Governor's is currently totally ice free, and it is a windy night so......?

[CanisLupusArctos]

Looking SE from Black Cat I see ice pack down to around 5-Mile Island/Steamboat Island. The ice survived the wind gusts of 16 mph today, but the open spots around Black Cat Shoals grew every hour. Currently the winds are on the increase and we're in a snow squall that's dropped an inch of snow in the last 45 minutes, with forecast for 45+ mph winds tomorrow afternoon. The squall's signature on the radar almost looks like it's an extension of lake effect snow from upstate NY.

[19MileBaylover]

Anybody up in the 19 Mile Bay area? How's the ice?

[BoulderBronco]

I know it's windy and all but if it got cold enought wouldn't it still ice up? I am no weather expert but seems to me no matter how windy it was, if it was cold enough the top of the water would freeze. Maybe a temp of say 3*F like it's suposed to be tomorrow?

[Resident 2B]

BoulderBronco,

The wind has a huge impact on the ability of open water to ice up. If the surface of the water is being moved by the wind, it does not have the ability to freeze. What is needed is a cold night and no wind. That will cause the lake to get a skim coat usually a half inch or so think.

Once there is a skim coat, the wind can still mess up the ice-in process. It works on any area of thin ice and once it breaks through, it continues to enlarge the opening. Once the opening is large enough for any wind-driven wave action, thin ice will get eaten up very quickly, even with tempatures well below freezing. The ice has to be an inch or two thick before it gets "safe" from most winds below 20 mph.

Today, the wind got a lot of the ice outside of the bays. Although it will be below freezing tonight, the ice will be no match for wind gusts of 40 mph on tap for tomorrow. We need the wind to die down for the process to begin again.

With water tempatures at 35 degrees, one cold and still night followed by a cold and rather still day will do the job in many areas of the lake.

Sorry for the bad news, but that is how it works.

R2B

[BoulderBronco]

Originally Posted by Resident 2B

BoulderBronco,

The wind has a huge impact on the ability of open water to ice up. If the surface of the water is being moved by the wind, it does not have the ability to freeze. What is needed is a cold night and no wind. That will cause the lake to get a skim coat usually a half inch or so think.

Once there is a skim coat, the wind can still mess up the ice-in process. It works on any area of thin ice and once it breaks through, it continues to enlarge the opening. Once the opening is large enough for any wind-driven wave action, thin ice will get eaten up very quickly, even with tempatures well below freezing. The ice has to be an inch or two thick before it gets "safe" from most winds below 20 mph.

Today, the wind got a lot of the ice outside of the bays. Although it will be below freezing tonight, the ice will be no match for wind gusts of 40 mph on tap for tomorrow. We need the wind to die down for the process to begin again.

With water tempatures at 35 degrees, one cold and still night followed by a cold and rather still day will do the job in many areas of the lake.

Sorry for the bad news, but that is how it works.

R2B

Thanks. But I'm not stupid. I understand that. But at some point the water will freeze. If it was 100* below zero it would freeze in a second no matter how windy. So. I am just wondering how cold it would have to be to cancel out the wind? 10*? 0*? -10*? -50*? What? Any guesses?

[Resident 2B]

Originally Posted by BoulderBronco

Thanks. But I'm not stupid. I understand that. But at some point the water will freeze. If it was 100* below zero it would freeze in a second no matter how windy. So. I am just wondering how cold it would have to be to cancel out the wind? 10*? 0*? -10*? -50*? What? Any guesses?

I was only trying to help and was not in any way implying that your are stupid.

Technically at absolute zero all motion stops. At reasonably normal local tempatures, there are far too many variables involved to give an answer to your question.

[HomeWood]

Think of it this way... at least it will be very cold and not 50 degrees right . The wind will be no help to the bigger parts, but coves and places protected by the wind will only add ice I assume.

[Weirs guy]

We lost a lot of ice on Weirs Bay yesterday (from as far towards Meredith as I can see to Methodist Circle), and even more last night. Last nights waves ate up even more, its almost down to the channel now.

[CanisLupusArctos]

On one occasion during the 90s I saw the open lake when it was cooled to 32 and was still open water because of the wind. The water froze instantly to everything it splashed on (freezing spray). Such instant freezing will always happpen if the air temp is bitterly cold, but on that morning it wasn't.

This morning it's open water SE of Black Cat Shoals, with NW wind averaging 9 gusting to 20 mph and increasing, temp 17 F and dropping. The 4 inches of snow we had last night is blowing around out there. Looks like our next chance of calm conditions is Monday night.

[DRH]

We had high winds overnight, with a 41 mph gust at about 8:30 AM this morning. The ice is completely gone in our entire view now:

[HomeWood]

From what lake Wenworths cam shows, it's holding up and still snow covered. First it's warm air and now it's wind. Give me a freakin' break!

[BoulderBronco]

Originally Posted by Resident 2B

I was only trying to help and was not in any way implying that your are stupid.

Technically at absolute zero all motion stops. At reasonably normal local tempatures, there are far too many variables involved to give an answer to your question.

I know. I didn't mean to imply that. I was just wondering how cold it would have to be.

[HomeWood]

If we could bring the cold down from Mt Washington that would help. -15 and a windchill of -60! We sure don't need the 90mph winds making that!

[CanisLupusArctos]

In howling northwest winds, the ice between Black Cat Island, Three Mile and Bear has broken up like a celebrity couple. It made quite a show, as ocean-like swells came into shore laden with shards of ice and a few good-size bergs 2-3 inches thick. The ice piled around 5 feet high on Black Cat Shoals/"Mousetrap Ledge," and continued drifting southeast. Frothing whitecaps and freezing spray replaced the ice pack.

There is now quite an ice accumulation on shores and objects with exposure to the northwest. The temperature on Black Cat Island is now 13 and dropping, while the winds are now 20 mph gusting to 46. The strongest winds are forecast for this evening.

[HomeWood]

At least the temp is dropping!

[Grant]

Awesome photos -- thanks for the great report.

[Resident 2B]

CLA,

It is amazing what the wind does to ice and how the wind plays such a big factor on both ice-in and ice-out. Great job in conveying this to those not lucky enought to see it live.

Stay warm!

R2B

[HomeWood]

Is it still very windy today?

[trfour]

We used to get real winters around here,.. and not that long ago we had a good one where the Lake froze over before the snow flew. We had well over twenty plow able snow storms this winter,.. I remember having to go up and shovel the snow off the back porch roof many times after work to keep the ice dams from building. All of the many wonderful winter activities enjoyed by us tough winter sports, Champion sled dog racers, ice fisher folks, and I recall Alton Bay looking like Laconia Airport. Some friends and I left the camp on Paugus Bay on our snowmobiles to ride around the Lake and check out all the fun and games. Meredith was crowded with the fishing derby go'in on, and we even took a ride up to Mount Shaw and back. It was great to see everyone having fun.

There was an MP dive team over in Winter Harbor practicing ice rescue and they had cut a hole through the ice and had it all cordoned off, so I stopped and asked how thick the the ice was,.. they said oh its safe alright 39 inches thick!!

Let the Lake freeze, and let it SNOW!!!


Oh, PS I caught these guys party'n on my deck that winter with my portable Weirs Bridge Cam too.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

All the launch ramps are iced in as of today, Shep Brown's, Meredith Town Docks, Glendale, Weirs Channel, Meredith Marina: all inaccessible. The ice looks very thin and tonight's winds and 26 degrees could make some changes.......sorry ice fans! For now, it looks like my boat is ice bound for the duration...whenever? The area from buoy 3-Horse Isl to Bear-Mark-Timber-Governor's is currently totally ice free, and it is a windy night so......?

What will that do to the hull and motor? Aren't you worried? I don't think I've ever seen a boat survive a freezing into the lake. Do you have a bubbler to keep the water open near the hull?

Blue Thunder

[Steveo]

FLL, I have a spare bubbler if you want to borrow it. Might be a little late to get it in and you'll need power, but it's yours if you want it.

[fatlazyless]

Yes, it is still in the water. My old yard sale, five dollar, 1/6hp pump wasn't working too well, so I made a major sixty-four dollar purchase of a Lowe's 1/6hp pump and set it up as a dock circulator. It draws only 2 amps. So far, so good. It's keeping the area around the boat motor and 40' dock clear all by itself. I know that's hard to believe. I cannot believe it and I've was checking it out today. Maybe, because the water is 4 feet deep or less. If tomorrow is a good sunny day, I'll try to post a photo.......maybe captioned 'fully winterized,' or 'do-it-yourself boat removal' or 'speed limits totally unnecessary!', or something. Maybe, if it warms up to 40 degrees, I'll get to finish installing that fish-finder & depth guage that I started last April? Hmmmm, maybe some early season boat painting? Oh well, winter has a ways to go here so no need to rush!

[Waterbaby]

YOU may not be worrying, FLL, and no need to -- enough of the rest of us doing the worrying for you! Best of luck to you -- and only 4' of water? Oh dear, I hope that pump works, seems to me as if the upcoming cold snap could freeze those shallows faster than the pump can circulate! Keep us updated, please.

[gtxrider]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Yes, it is still in the water. My old yard sale, five dollar, 1/6hp pump wasn't working too well, so I made a major sixty-four dollar purchase of a Lowe's 1/6hp pump and set it up as a dock circulator. It draws only 2 amps. So far, so good. It's keeping the area around the boat motor and 40' dock clear all by itself. I know that's hard to believe. I cannot believe it and I've was checking it out today. Maybe, because the water is 4 feet deep or less. If tomorrow is a good sunny day, I'll try to post a photo.......maybe captioned 'fully winterized,' or 'do-it-yourself boat removal' or 'speed limits totally unnecessary!', or something. Maybe, if it warms up to 40 degrees, I'll get to finish installing that fish-finder & depth guage that I started last April? Hmmmm, maybe some early season boat painting? Oh well, winter has a ways to go here so no need to rush!

If you keep the engine running at idle and in gear the water will keep moving and won't ice up. The motor will be warm so this will prevent the block from freezing. Since it is an aluminum boat it should not crack like a fiber glass boat.

As my mother would say "Lots of ideas but none of them good."


Good luck with your bubblers!