Yes, it is finally declared out. The official time is 8:15 AM on 4/24/18. For a time, there was lots of wind that was causing waves to lap up onto the ice and melt it but then the wind stopped. Monday was warm and sunny but it took a bit more time to have no ice along the shores and everyone can now launch their boats (if they want to into the cold water). Photo of ice free lake and Mt. Washington by Rich Masse.
On the Warren Sands beach, some ice chunks remain but there is enough space between them so everyone can launch their boats.
Likewise the north end of Warren Sands Beach has some ice in it but it, too, is up on shore. There is also a lot of room to launch a boat along that shore.
One thing that is interesting is that when the ice was moving in the strong winds of the past weekend, ridges of sand were pushed. In places, these are over a foot tall. At the south end of Warren Sands, there are similar ridges of pebbles. When you have a few acres worth of ice moving down the lake, there is quite a bit of momentum and it is hard to stop it. It isn’t moving that fast but there is a lot of weight.
Monday – Most of the ice is gone. There is still some ice holding strong on Warren Sands. Tomorrow is probably the day. It turns out that there have been two other years when the ice went out on April 23rd. Perhaps, it is nice that it goes out on the 24th. The ICE committee will check tomorrow. Given the above freezing temperatures over night, it is probably a done deal.
Written earlier……. Ice Out is coming soon but the actual time is still in doubt. The ICE committee (certified by the International Committee on Exactness)went to the lake three times on Friday, a couple of times Saturday and twice on Sunday morning. Each time was different. The wind was blowing hard for most of the Friday and Saturday but there is still ice. Pictures give a history, in reverse order, of the conditions on the lake.
Sunday morning still showed ice around. The large section of ice that was along the shore from Turtle to Warren Sands seems to have pivoted with its west end nearing Brummitt Island.
There is still ice to the east of Mink Island although it is getting smaller.
Coming down the lake in the breeze from Bass and Little Bass are some icebergs heading east. These could be avoided in a boat.
The beach at Warren Sands still has ice on it and there is come ice still in the water so it would make it not easy to get a boat in. Scott Lounsbury sent the following two pictures of Warren Sands taken Sunday. The first is looking south toward Townsend Shore, the second is looking north past the mouth of Warren Brook.
There are still a few patches of ice to the south of Mink Island.
In short, there are many places on the lake where you could boat easily but “ice out” requires that there are no icebergs floating and that boats can be launched from all the shores. (With the water still around 32, you should think twice about going out and also wear a life jacket even if you normally don’t wear one in the summer. You want to be able to float high in the water if you tip over and not have to find a life jacket and put it on in the cold water.)
As of Saturday afternoon, there was still ice. Along Point of Pines, there were still a lot of ice cubes….. On Sunday, there was only about 3 or 4 feet of ice cubes but launching a boat was not inviting.
Looking out toward the shore between Turtle Island and Warren Sands, there was still a large area of ice. It is very rotten but still holding together.
And between Turtle Island and 109, there was still ice along the shore.
Yes, the ice is getting ready to disappear but it is not “out”. Because we have passed 3:00 PM on the 21st, even though the ice has not gone out, Crownrock is the winner. Lots of people thought that the ice would go out early but that didn’t happen. The person guessing the latest ice-out is the winner.
At the start of Friday, there was open water in the western part of the lake but ice for a large part. These pictures were taken from Red Brook Circle looking northwest and northeast. The ice was melted near shore but lots of was to the west. There was also ice going from Bass to the south shore of the lake. At this time, there was little wind.
As the day progressed, the wind increased and even though the temperature was only in the 40s, the ice started moving and breaking up. When it moves, it brings water up from the bottom which is at 39 degrees and this helps to melt the ice.
The picture, below, shows open water but ice near second ledge. At this time, there was ice from second ledge east into east end of the lake and Warren Sands. The ice was not able to move so some of it rode up on the non-moving ice and it is, therefore, white. Nearer shore, there were lots of ice cubes floating in the wind driven currents. Probably enough ice cubes in the picture to provide a summer’s worth iced drinks. The last picture is Governor’s Rock where moving ice has been pushed up over it. Yes, there is power in the moving of large chunks of ice that start moving.
Near shore, the ice cubes were moving. The first picture is from a few days ago, the second was taken, Friday.
The one below as Friday.
Around 7:30 PM more photos show the continued change. There are still large icebergs floating and lots of ice toward Warren Sands but it is not like the previous day when there was probably 75% ice cover on the lake. Ice out will be soon.
The picture, above, shows quite a bit of ice in the bay near the State Park and with the wind dying, it may stay there.
Brummitt Island still has ice cubes around it but there is no solid ice.
This morning, Saturday, there is no wind. Some ice cubes are in the foreground and there is still ice around Turtle Island.
That ice is seen to run down the north shore to Warren Sands.
But the morning is crisp and clear. Ice cubes are in front of Brummitt. But it may be time to get out on the lake, when the temperature rises a bit. At 8:00 AM, it is still about freezing.
