Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - Ice-Out 2008

Merrymeeting · 04-20-2008, 08:05 AM

Ah, the restorative powers of the lake work again!

We opened up our house this weekend and spent our first night at the lake in 08. It was an amazing 24+ hours to be at the lake.

I arrived mid-day Friday to beautiful, warm sunshine and the sounds of melting snow and ice everywhere. I was amazed to see how much snow is still left in the mountains and ridges around the lakes. I went hiking on the ridge in this photo.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...697&ppuser=123

In some spots I was sinking in to snow up to mid-calf. But it is very soft wet snow that's going fast.

Later that evening while standing on the shoreline, the sound of water rushing down the hillsides into the lake dominated all other sounds. The good news is that the lakes are still relatively low so there is plenty of remaining capacity to take up the melting snow.

Friday night, the open areas of water on the lake re-froze, despite the fact that the temp reading at the house showed a low of 40 that night. As our resident weather experts often tell us, I'm sure that radiational cooling had a lot to do with this. By morning we were still pretty locked in. These photos taken at 7:15 AM

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...702&ppuser=123
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...701&ppuser=123

We went to breakfast in Wolfeboro. As you can see in these photos, things warmed up quickly. As others have mentioned, you could literally watch the ice melt. I've also included a photo of the work to improve accessability at Dockside.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...698&ppuser=123
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...700&ppuser=123

Back at our place at noon, my son decided he would contribute to the advancement of ice out.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...699&ppuser=123

It must have worked. By 2 PM, most of the ice near us was gone, and the remaining lake ice had gone very dark. A slight breeze picked up late in the afternoon and the remaining ice packs were moving around noticably. Most were fairly thin, some areas were still 6-8" thick. But these were typically shaded patches close to the shore. We were able to put our dock in!

I expect that most of the ice will be gone from Merrymeeting by Monday or Tuesday.

04-20-2008, 08:05 AM	#137
Merrymeeting Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Merrymeeting Lake, New Durham Posts: 2,217 Thanks: 299 Thanked 795 Times in 365 Posts	Ah, the restorative powers of the lake work again! We opened up our house this weekend and spent our first night at the lake in 08. It was an amazing 24+ hours to be at the lake. I arrived mid-day Friday to beautiful, warm sunshine and the sounds of melting snow and ice everywhere. I was amazed to see how much snow is still left in the mountains and ridges around the lakes. I went hiking on the ridge in this photo. http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...697&ppuser=123 In some spots I was sinking in to snow up to mid-calf. But it is very soft wet snow that's going fast. Later that evening while standing on the shoreline, the sound of water rushing down the hillsides into the lake dominated all other sounds. The good news is that the lakes are still relatively low so there is plenty of remaining capacity to take up the melting snow. Friday night, the open areas of water on the lake re-froze, despite the fact that the temp reading at the house showed a low of 40 that night. As our resident weather experts often tell us, I'm sure that radiational cooling had a lot to do with this. By morning we were still pretty locked in. These photos taken at 7:15 AM http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...702&ppuser=123 http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...701&ppuser=123 We went to breakfast in Wolfeboro. As you can see in these photos, things warmed up quickly. As others have mentioned, you could literally watch the ice melt. I've also included a photo of the work to improve accessability at Dockside. http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...698&ppuser=123 http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...700&ppuser=123 Back at our place at noon, my son decided he would contribute to the advancement of ice out. http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...699&ppuser=123 It must have worked. By 2 PM, most of the ice near us was gone, and the remaining lake ice had gone very dark. A slight breeze picked up late in the afternoon and the remaining ice packs were moving around noticably. Most were fairly thin, some areas were still 6-8" thick. But these were typically shaded patches close to the shore. We were able to put our dock in! I expect that most of the ice will be gone from Merrymeeting by Monday or Tuesday. Last edited by Merrymeeting; 04-20-2008 at 08:58 AM.