Winds

Mink Islander · 02-18-2006, 01:28 PM

I'd hiked over to Mink on Thursday -- needed to do two portages -- one over a small corner of Bear to clear the first open water, and again across an island to clear a second span of questionable ice/open water. The walk from there was uneventful. 7-9 inches of black ice with a couple inches of slush on top. Had a nice relaxing rest of the day.

Friday, however, was another story altogether. Got up early to fish (and before the wind/rain set in), setting up only a couple hundred yards out from my place. When the initial breeze and rain came up in late morning, I returned back to the house, but the weather calmed down, so I went back out around noon-time. The wind started to pick up again fairly quickly so I went to bring in my two tip-ups. Literally, within a couple of minutes it went from a breeze to a gale. As I was gathering the last tip-up, the wind swept away my el cheapo plastic chair -- last I saw it was tumbling across the lake towards the gap between Jolly and Camp. I grabbed the rope to the sled and watched the lid to my bait bucket fly off and disappear downwind. Then the sled itself lifted like a kite and flipped -- dumping a couple dozen smelt and all my gear onto the ice. I gathered what I could, but saw gloves, a kneeling cushing, a package of worms, the bait bucket, etc., all go racing down the lake. I loaded the auger into the sled to weigh it down, and raced to catch the few items than were not already a hundred yards away. I recovered all but the bait bucket, the chair and the blade cover for the auger. Took me more than 15 minutes to drag myself parallel to the wind towards my camp. Never felt so completely exposed to the elements before. Such a violent wind. Branches of trees were blowing across the lake for hours. Chunks of the ice pack broke up all around the perimeter of Mink making exit options a bit challenging. And of course the power went out.... Don't expect to see it until Spring since the Co-op makes repairing the island lines a low priority and given the concerns about the ice this year, they may well wait for ice-out. Had enough gas to run the gererator for a couple of days, but bailed out this morning since I was "baitless" from my mis-adventure the day before and with more wind today, thought I wouldn't wait to see if more of the ice opened up. Followed my route back from Thursday but had to deal with snow squalls and and strong headwind. Now I know why I go to the gym 5 days a week. As they say in the movie Apollo 13 (wife's favorite movie) -- a successful failure. Quite an adventure.

Oh, caught a couple decent lake trout and a 2-3 pound smallie. Not much of a fishing weekend!

gravy boat · 02-18-2006, 02:13 PM

Pending approval under the "WEATHER" Gallery on this site are a couple of photos of damage from yesterday's high winds.

A very large and (what seems to be) healthy pine was snapped at above 6 feet above the ground...it fell toward the street and right into the "Y" of another tree, resulting in that tree starting to split right down the middle. Needless to say, we need to call a professional to take them down before they take out the telephone junction box for our street!

Hope you all fared well!

upthesaukee · 02-18-2006, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gravy boat

Pending approval under the "WEATHER" Gallery on this site are a couple of photos of damage from yesterday's high winds.

A very large and (what seems to be) healthy pine was snapped at above 6 feet above the ground...it fell toward the street and right into the "Y" of another tree, resulting in that tree starting to split right down the middle. Needless to say, we need to call a professional to take them down before they take out the telephone junction box for our street!

Hope you all fared well!

Here's the links to your pics, Gravyboat. nice shots.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...5&limit=recent

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...4&limit=recent

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...3&limit=recent

Glad to see it is apparently only tree damage.

wildwoodfam · 02-19-2006, 03:11 PM

We lost 6 King Pines on our property on Long Island from a similar squall line, roughly around the same time of year - may have been March. Sadly we have since parted with that property - but does anyone know how the Wildwood Neighbohood on Long Island faired during the wind storm? Tall trees, and small homes, lend itself for trouble in that area.

Lake Lady 6 · 02-19-2006, 03:51 PM

As we are in Florida we are always interested in your weather/lake reports. Have there been any additional power outages in the area since yesterday morning?
We did check on-line with the WMUR-TV site and read about the area having many trees toppled in the storm.
Hope everyone escaped without any injuries.

DRH · 02-19-2006, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake Lady 6

As we are in Florida we are always interested in your weather/lake reports. Have there been any additional power outages in the area since yesterday morning?
We did check on-line with the WMUR-TV site and read about the area having many trees toppled in the storm.
Hope everyone escaped without any injuries.

LL6,
Our power has stayed on since the 12-hour outage on Friday night/Saturday morning, even though it was very windy here again yesterday. (We had a gust of 52 mph between 12 noon and 1pm yesterday.) I think power has been restored to most of the people in this area who lost power on Friday, but some other areas of the state may not have power restored until tomorrow or even Tuesday.

Lake Lady 6 · 02-19-2006, 07:31 PM

Thanks for the update. It must have been quite unsettling to have the wind speed so high. Hopefully there were no serious problems for those taking part in the Derby.
Looking forward to returning mid-April.

mcdude · 02-20-2006, 09:59 AM

For those of you registered with the Laconia Citizen, they have presented a mini slide-show of fishermen coping with the winds during the derby.
WIND & THE ICE-FISHING DERBY

SIKSUKR · 02-20-2006, 10:47 AM

Not exactly lakes region but I was out of power for 34 hours from 2:00 pm Friday till midnight Saturday in Bedford.Numerous trees and telephone poles down everywhere.Friday,Cannon Mt. closed down due to lightning!I returned home Saturday from the white mountains to find my house at 42 degrees!Thank goodness I had a generator.One bit of bad news.My work partner's friend was struck by a falling tree outside her Bedford home.She is in tough shape with a broken back and paralyzed from the waist down.It was a pretty hairy day out there Friday.

Weirs guy · 02-20-2006, 12:01 PM

We had a light dusting of snow Saturday morning. About 10:00 I watched a funnel cloud that picked up that light snow fall roughly 100 feet high and 30 feet wide start at spindle point and blow clean over to goveners island. and that was 18 hours after the wind was supposed to stop blowing!

Pepper · 02-20-2006, 02:15 PM

Siksukker - I'm sorry to hear about your friend's injury. I'll keep her in my prayers.

SIKSUKR · 02-21-2006, 07:22 AM

Thanks Pepper.

02-18-2006, 01:28 PM	#1
Mink Islander Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 753 Thanks: 59 Thanked 271 Times in 129 Posts	What a few days! I'd hiked over to Mink on Thursday -- needed to do two portages -- one over a small corner of Bear to clear the first open water, and again across an island to clear a second span of questionable ice/open water. The walk from there was uneventful. 7-9 inches of black ice with a couple inches of slush on top. Had a nice relaxing rest of the day. Friday, however, was another story altogether. Got up early to fish (and before the wind/rain set in), setting up only a couple hundred yards out from my place. When the initial breeze and rain came up in late morning, I returned back to the house, but the weather calmed down, so I went back out around noon-time. The wind started to pick up again fairly quickly so I went to bring in my two tip-ups. Literally, within a couple of minutes it went from a breeze to a gale. As I was gathering the last tip-up, the wind swept away my el cheapo plastic chair -- last I saw it was tumbling across the lake towards the gap between Jolly and Camp. I grabbed the rope to the sled and watched the lid to my bait bucket fly off and disappear downwind. Then the sled itself lifted like a kite and flipped -- dumping a couple dozen smelt and all my gear onto the ice. I gathered what I could, but saw gloves, a kneeling cushing, a package of worms, the bait bucket, etc., all go racing down the lake. I loaded the auger into the sled to weigh it down, and raced to catch the few items than were not already a hundred yards away. I recovered all but the bait bucket, the chair and the blade cover for the auger. Took me more than 15 minutes to drag myself parallel to the wind towards my camp. Never felt so completely exposed to the elements before. Such a violent wind. Branches of trees were blowing across the lake for hours. Chunks of the ice pack broke up all around the perimeter of Mink making exit options a bit challenging. And of course the power went out.... Don't expect to see it until Spring since the Co-op makes repairing the island lines a low priority and given the concerns about the ice this year, they may well wait for ice-out. Had enough gas to run the gererator for a couple of days, but bailed out this morning since I was "baitless" from my mis-adventure the day before and with more wind today, thought I wouldn't wait to see if more of the ice opened up. Followed my route back from Thursday but had to deal with snow squalls and and strong headwind. Now I know why I go to the gym 5 days a week. As they say in the movie Apollo 13 (wife's favorite movie) -- a successful failure. Quite an adventure. Oh, caught a couple decent lake trout and a 2-3 pound smallie. Not much of a fishing weekend!

02-18-2006, 02:13 PM	#2
gravy boat Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Gilford year round, West Alton summers Posts: 589 Thanks: 596 Thanked 200 Times in 100 Posts	Wind damage in Gilford -- downed trees Pending approval under the "WEATHER" Gallery on this site are a couple of photos of damage from yesterday's high winds. A very large and (what seems to be) healthy pine was snapped at above 6 feet above the ground...it fell toward the street and right into the "Y" of another tree, resulting in that tree starting to split right down the middle. Needless to say, we need to call a professional to take them down before they take out the telephone junction box for our street! Hope you all fared well!

02-19-2006, 03:11 PM	#4
wildwoodfam Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: North Andover, MA & summers up at the BIG lake Posts: 285 Thanks: 5 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Couple seasons ago - We lost 6 King Pines on our property on Long Island from a similar squall line, roughly around the same time of year - may have been March. Sadly we have since parted with that property - but does anyone know how the Wildwood Neighbohood on Long Island faired during the wind storm? Tall trees, and small homes, lend itself for trouble in that area.

02-19-2006, 03:51 PM	#5
Lake Lady 6 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 102 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Drh As we are in Florida we are always interested in your weather/lake reports. Have there been any additional power outages in the area since yesterday morning? We did check on-line with the WMUR-TV site and read about the area having many trees toppled in the storm. Hope everyone escaped without any injuries.

02-19-2006, 07:31 PM	#7
Lake Lady 6 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 102 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Drh Thanks for the update. It must have been quite unsettling to have the wind speed so high. Hopefully there were no serious problems for those taking part in the Derby. Looking forward to returning mid-April.

02-20-2006, 09:59 AM	#8
mcdude Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rock Haven Lake - West Newfield, ME Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 374 Thanked 1,057 Times in 495 Posts	For those of you registered with the Laconia Citizen, they have presented a mini slide-show of fishermen coping with the winds during the derby. *WIND & THE ICE-FISHING DERBY* __________________

02-20-2006, 10:47 AM	#9
SIKSUKR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,075 Thanks: 215 Thanked 903 Times in 509 Posts	Not exactly lakes region but I was out of power for 34 hours from 2:00 pm Friday till midnight Saturday in Bedford.Numerous trees and telephone poles down everywhere.Friday,Cannon Mt. closed down due to lightning!I returned home Saturday from the white mountains to find my house at 42 degrees!Thank goodness I had a generator.One bit of bad news.My work partner's friend was struck by a falling tree outside her Bedford home.She is in tough shape with a broken back and paralyzed from the waist down.It was a pretty hairy day out there Friday. __________________ SIKSUKR

02-20-2006, 12:01 PM	#10
Weirs guy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Weirs Beach, NH Posts: 1,067 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	We had a light dusting of snow Saturday morning. About 10:00 I watched a funnel cloud that picked up that light snow fall roughly 100 feet high and 30 feet wide start at spindle point and blow clean over to goveners island. and that was 18 hours after the wind was supposed to stop blowing! __________________ Is it bikeweek yet? Now?

02-20-2006, 02:15 PM	#11
Pepper Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Laconia, NH Posts: 1,284 Thanks: 409 Thanked 155 Times in 40 Posts	Siksukker - I'm sorry to hear about your friend's injury. I'll keep her in my prayers. __________________ Never waste time lamenting what was. Simply celebrate what is!

02-21-2006, 07:22 AM	#12
SIKSUKR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,075 Thanks: 215 Thanked 903 Times in 509 Posts	Thanks Pepper. __________________ SIKSUKR