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Old 01-24-2011, 12:36 PM   #16
Lakegeezer
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Moultonboro, NH
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Default Slush layer is on top of much ice

In general, the problem is not having a safe thickness of ice. It is a foot or more thick in many areas and mostly safe everywhere. The problem is slush. It was created by the sleet storm we had last week. Think of it as a lasagna with 6-8" or so of snow on top of a thin ice crust, then 3" of water, then a foot of ice. When you snowmobile or walk on it, you frequently break through the thin crust and get wet. Snowmobiles bog down. The snow is insulating the water from freezing. On Sunday, it was really bad - after the -16F temperatures last night (in M'boro bay), and the wind, the crust is thicker, but the water is still there (as of Monday at noon). The snowmobile slush tracks are frozen all the way through the slush layer and have a thin layer of blown snow, so are pretty passable. If the water layer does not freeze before this week's storm, it may never.
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