Ice In

[HomeWood]

How's the ice doing lately with the milder temps and the rain?

[Slickcraft]

We took a look by the town docks today, there is water between the docks but iced over elsewhere. No indication that anyone has been out onto the ice to fish nor has anyone attempted to get a bob house onto the ice from there. The town has plowed what snow there was so as to partially block access to the area left of the docks where bob houses are normally towed onto the ice.

[Merrymeeting]

I was out on Merrymeeting today. A layer of water, covered by slushy ice.

A friend who was fishing said the holes he drilled were ~6". It appears that the rain yesterday is still sitting on top of the ice. The ice below must be fairly good or the water would have drained by now. Then the sleet/ice of late yesterday covered over the top.

At the same time, there are a few areas of the lake that were iced over before that are now open (areas where streams or springs enter the lake). I also saw parts of the Merrymeeting River that had opened up that were frozen last week.

Finally, I drove over the Merrimack River today. Two weeks ago saw large ice floes in the water. Today, nothing, just water.

[Lucky1]

I was there Friday. Drove by Meredith and through Center Harbor and up to Moultonborough. Certainly was pleny of open water no matter where we looked.

[Resident 2B]

Well, I admit that my winter prediction made a month ago did not materialize. It got cold in the middle of the month as I expected, but the cold did not last long and from there it warmed up again, something I did not think would happen.

Looking forward, this coming week the temperatures will be above normal and the following week looks to be below normal. After that, it looks like the temperatures will moderate and be at or above normal into early March. This is not to say there will not be any cold days, but on average it does not look to be all that cold. This winter just does not seem to want to act like a New England winter.

As you all can see, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting stronger. In fact the historically coldest time of the year is Jan 22 to Jan 26 and that is now behind us. All of this will result in only a minor building of the ice, most likely between next weekend and the derby. After that the higher sun angle and the longer days will start to kick in.

Again, I could be wrong and I have been more wrong this year than I have been right with these long range forecasts. Sorry about that. I also realize this is bad news to some and good news to others, but in the end it looks like this will go down as a very mild winter.

R2B

[ishoot308]

I hear ya R2B... With temps expected near 50 with rain on Wednesday and pushing 40 on Thursday, there won't be any real ice making going on only ice losing!

I decided to head to Pittsburg next weekend and try and get some snowmobiling in. Even up there trail conditions are iffy at best but I figured if I can't ride I can ice fish the Connecticut lakes! Plenty of ice up there!

Dan

[AC2717]

Is it my eyes, or does all the ice on the cams look to be solid, except snake eye of course. but including the Weirs cam???

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by AC2717

Is it my eyes, or does all the ice on the cams look to be solid, except snake eye of course. but including the Weirs cam???

After driving around a lot yesterday looking at property on the southern end of the lake, there is ice everywhere but I wouldnt head out just yet...

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by Resident 2B

Well, I admit that my winter prediction made a month ago did not materialize. It got cold in the middle of the month as I expected, but the cold did not last long and from there it warmed up again, something I did not think would happen.

Looking forward, this coming week the temperatures will be above normal and the following week looks to be below normal. After that, it looks like the temperatures will moderate and be at or above normal into early March. This is not to say there will not be any cold days, but on average it does not look to be all that cold. This winter just does not seem to want to act like a New England winter.

As you all can see, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting stronger. In fact the historically coldest time of the year is Jan 22 to Jan 26 and that is now behind us. All of this will result in only a minor building of the ice, most likely between next weekend and the derby. After that the higher sun angle and the longer days will start to kick in.

Again, I could be wrong and I have been more wrong this year than I have been right with these long range forecasts. Sorry about that. I also realize this is bad news to some and good news to others, but in the end it looks like this will go down as a very mild winter.

R2B

I'm not going to let you go down with the ship alone. I was right there with you making the same predictions. This weather pattern and trying to predict it using the tools we always use is very frustrating, to say the least. I'm ready to write this "non-winter" off and move on to an early Spring.

BT

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

I'm not going to let you go down with the ship alone. I was right there with you making the same predictions. BT

You can add me to that list as well.Can we get through one whole week with normal/below avg temps?This is a rollercoaster winter if I ever saw one.

[RailroadJoe]

Is the aircraft runway going to open? The ice looks pretty safe. Have to move one bob house if they do open it.

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by RailroadJoe

Is the aircraft runway going to open? The ice looks pretty safe. Have to move one bob house if they do open it.

Brian in the corner store would probably know, he is one of the runway plow guys.

[Bear Island South]

Does anyone have ice thickness reports?
I hear there are a few bob houses in Meredith Bay.
How about the Cattle Landing area?

[hilltopper]

There are a few bobhouses in Meredith Bay, but they're no more than 50 feet off shore. The furtheset out I've seen someone on Meredtih Bay was a fellow (maybe winniboy?) taking down some posts and ropes that were markling off an area for the pond hockey tournament (which has been moved to Waukewan). That person was a probably couple hundred yards out. All I can say is use extreme caution on Meredith Bay. Maybe winniboy knows the exact ice thickness out a few hundred yards...

[Merrymeeting]

There are spots on the Merrymeeting River that are open that were not there last week. The Downings Landing 1 webcam seems to show the ice receeding from the bridge in the Bay.

While we have a long way to go (ask Phil!), be careful on the ice this weekend.

[Mink Islander]

Coming up Satuday morning, hand auger at the ready to drill a few holes at Cattle Landing. Skeptical that it will be good news but want to get a first hand look leading up to the Derby. Will post what I learn.

[fatlazyless]

Horse Island, close to the Cattle Landing town dock, has open water between it and the mainland, plus there's some open water on the outer pointy end of Horse Island too. The ice out in the middle out towards Mark Island looks kinda soft and grey but I did see one lone snowmobiler roaring around on a two-stroke sno-mo out that way today at about noon.

The new Cattle Landing floating dock has a water circulator so's it has some open water, too.

[nhhick]

Ice between Cow and the mainland is also looking grey, kinda like late Feb early March ice. Also had some rather large pieces break up and move into the open areas where a stream and our de-icers keep open. But on a good note I have heard threee weather guys say a foot of snow or more on around the 17th. Bad for ice but good for the riding.

[Resident 2B]

Look at the Weirs Cam time lapse for today, Feb 3rd and you will see a great example of the ice receding, even though the temperature is below freezing. There is a good sized piece in the process of breaking off the main ice sheet. You can see it fracture and then move back and forth.

This is due to the stronger sun we get this time of the year. With the passing of Feb 2nd, Groundhog Day, that ended the darkest quarter of the year. We are now in a transitional quarter of the year where the sun angle and the sun light increases the most. With thin ice and little snow cover, the sun will eat away at the ice more and more each day. The ice is also noticeably more grey today than it was a few days ago, meaning more of the sun's rays are being absorbed and not reflected. This also adds to the ice melting.

Be very safe out there!!!!

R2B

[Belmont Resident]

Just drove by Paugus bay and there was only one ice house on the whole bay.
Several cracks with water showing and lots of open water along the shore where it is usually frozen to within 10-20 feet of bubblers.
My .02, I think the derby is a really bad idea given the conditions. Way to little usable ice. Even Lilly pond didn't look all that great, it looked very thin by the towers.
Hope it all turns out for the best..

[Bear Island South]

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

I'm ready to write this "non-winter" off and move on to an early Spring.

BT

As of today only 50 more days until spring.