The past week or so has had the weather change dramatically. It has been cold, then warm, then cold and then changing to warm. Many people didn’t guess the proper time for ice-out because it happened so quickly. The lake froze on the 8th but a few days later, it melted. Things have continued to change…..
On the 7th, the area between Triggs and the shore was mostly frozen and the bay near the State Park was also frozen, too. The small amount of snow that came down had landed on the previously frozen parts and then more of the lake froze and it didn’t have the snow.
It seems like the boat at the landing is, at this time, going to have a hard time going anywhere. At the same time, a few days later, it would be different.
The lake was well frozen and the snow on the beach showed that it came down before the lake froze. After that snowstorm, a cold front came in and that is when the lake froze. On the 8th, the entire lake was frozen and it was smooth ice, wonderful for skating except for the fact that it was only a quarter of an inch thick….
Then, it warmed and the ice broke up. The picture, below, shows the 1/4 inch slabs of ice bobbing in the waves near shore.
Looking down the beach, the snow has melted and only a small line of ice has pushed up on shore. It was small because the wind was light and from the south. The wind brought the warm air with it which cause the melting. It got to about 50 degrees.
After the warm-up, it again got cold as a cold front came through. The “news” was how many degrees colder it was the previous evening to the evening of the 11th, about 30 degrees seemed to be typical.
With the cold, ice cubes started forming along the shore and the wind pushed them up, again, into a line of ice on the shore as seen on the 12th.
On the 15th, it reached 50 degrees and the lake melted for the most part. Then, a front came in after a cold night. A skim of ice was on the entire lake so the snow that fell made the lake white (for the most part) although because the ice was so thin, the extra weight broke it and allowed water to come up and turn it to slush.
And then it got cold on the 19th with a high temperature of around 15 (with a strong wind). The lake is now frozen although not nearly well enough to allow travel on the lake.
One last thing is related to the replacement of the Heath Brook bridge on Pleasant Valley Rd. After electric wires were moved, a temporary bridge was put in on the upstream side of the old bridge and a day or so later, the old bridge was gone. Now, the water of the brook is going down a narrow channel between two dug-out dry areas. One day there were two guys in a boat in that small channel helping the people on shore to move material where it had to go..
Below is a picture of the dry area that does have water coming in but a pump is pumping it out as fast as it comes in. There is a similar dry pit on the other side of the water channel.
Below is a picture of the temporary bridge and the work area. Progress is being made.
Yikes! Who has a boat out at this time of year?