The snowstorm that was “sort-a big” left the lake snow covered. It was dense snow but OK for going out on and the snow mobiles made some tracks. Then, there was an inch of warm rain, temperatures went into the 50s causing a lot of melting.
Below is a picture before the rain of the nice, white, snow covered lake, looking toward Mt. Shaw.
The picture below was taken after the rain in a field across the road from Point Breeze. You can see that the melt water created a ten foot wide swath down the field. Since the ground is frozen, none of the water could seep into the ground. The water pushed some snow onto the ice of this small pond.
The streams were really full. The image below is of Townsend Brook flooding. Interestingly, the ice that had formed previously when the water level was low remained on the bottom of the stream and the water flowed right over the top of it. The sediment from the erosion of the stream banks made the water color brown. This is a common occurrence during storm events, but they seem to be occurring more frequently these days.
Below is a “before” picture of the lake surface.
Then, there is a picture of the brown water that came out of Townsend Brook onto the surface of the lake. There was enough water coming downstream that this brown water went half way out to Sunset Point and also around Point of Pines, a couple of hundred yards down toward Warren Sands. Looking closely, you can see waves on the brown pool of water on top of thick ice.
Looking toward the west end of the lake, the ice is sort of smooth but not as smooth as it was before Christmas and is not very inviting for ice skaters. The rocks near shore have lost their snow. A 50 degree rain can really change things.
