Ice In

[John Mercier]

The contest requires Emerson to declare Ice In sometime in February, and not declare Ice Out before March.

So if Emerson never declares or the glazing over the Broads does not hold... the contest is cancelled.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

The contest requires Emerson to declare Ice In sometime in February, and not declare Ice Out before March.

So if Emerson never declares or the glazing over the Broads does not hold... the contest is cancelled.

How so? You don't technically have to have full ice-in during a season in order to have and ice-out in the spring. Ice-out is when the Mount can reach all of its ports. It can't do it now, but it is not ice-in either. if it never locks up, there will still be an ice-out.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by codeman671

How so? You don't technically have to have full ice-in during a season in order to have and ice-out in the spring. Ice-out is when the Mount can reach all of its ports. It can't do it now, but it is not ice-in either. if it never locks up, there will still be an ice-out.

It was #2 on the contest condition.

[fatlazyless]

Today is Friday, Feb 2, 2024 which is the first day of the 2024 Pond Hockey tournament in Meredith NH that was moved from Lake Winnipesaukee to nearby Lake Waukewan, one mile south, due to insufficient ice surface on Meredith bay. Is the 15th year for this event that draws hundreds of hockey players from all over for three days of organized ice hockey, and various off-ice activities.

It actually looks like the weather will very good with sunshine and colder temps forecast for Saturday and Sunday, while today, Friday, could have some soft ice surface later in the day with temps getting up to 38-degrees, today.

There's been exactly zero sunshine for the last 7-days, one solid week of gray cloudiness, so having the sun and the cold, below freezing temps on Sat and Sun should be a very happy ending for what's been a very challenging hockey ice situation due to recent warm weather. Apparently, the weather will get cold enough and the sun will show up to make the Pond Hockey a very happening outdoor event. A happy ice hockey event will still be happening despite what was an unusually warm month of January. Looks like the weather is finally going cold and sunny just at the correct hockey time on Feb 2, 3, & 4.

[fatlazyless]

Ok, so with the wonder of the internet it was easy to learn that Berlin NH has an air temp of minus 9-F, right now, while Wolfeboro NH has an air temp of plus 8-F. Berlin is 76-miles north of Wolfeboro, straight north up Route 16, so's in order to get Lake Winnipesaukee to freeze up, it maybe needs to get moved up to Berlin, which would also boost the local economy in Berlin.

And for now, the webcam shots on Snake Eyes and the BearCam remain lots of open water with absolutely no ice in sight on Snake Eyes?

[KPW]

Ice in should be declared when the Mount can't make it's rounds. Nobody should base ice conditions on anything other than checking the thickness.

[John Mercier]

That is something you will need to argue with Emerson.
Tradition is that when he flies over and cannot see open water... he declares Ice In.

[tis]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

That is something you will need to argue with Emerson.
Tradition is that when he flies over and cannot see open water... he declares Ice In.

Tradition now but not when I was a kid.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

That is something you will need to argue with Emerson.
Tradition is that when he flies over and cannot see open water... he declares Ice In.

I'm with you on this one. I see no problem with "ice-in" being when the lake is completely iced over. Of course there will always be a spot, such as the Weirs channel, that typically never freezes but it is what it is.

Every year I say the same thing, ice-out to me personally is when I can pick my boat up in the Weirs channel, access Glendale, Gilford Yacht Club and Mark/Bear Island. Those are my ports.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by codeman671

I'm with you on this one. I see no problem with "ice-in" being when the lake is completely iced over. Of course there will always be a spot, such as the Weirs channel, that typically never freezes but it is what it is.

Every year I say the same thing, ice-out to me personally is when I can pick my boat up in the Weirs channel, access Glendale, Gilford Yacht Club and Mark/Bear Island. Those are my ports.

I agree! I like it the way it is...Ice in is usually telling islanders it won't be long before you can walk out to your camps to check on things. It's also telling ice fishermen and other outdoor sports enthusiast won't be long before you can enjoy the hard water! Of course for safety reasons, you always check the ice yourself before venturing out! Yes Emerson sometimes has it wrong but for the most part he does a great job and does not charge for his services and like Steve said above, it's all in fun and tradition.

Ice out is when the mount can safely make her ports and the rest of the lake is usually ice free. I like that! I can usually easily make it to my camp on Welch by boat at least a week before official ice out is declared...I like that too!!

Dan

[John Mercier]

Emerson didn't even do it when I was a kid...

But it is now so embedded that even national news media picks up on it.

[chachee52]

Emerson didn't need to call Ice In in the past because it ALWAYS froze by the beginning of Jan, sometimes earlier.
Just saying

[tis]

Originally Posted by chachee52

Emerson didn't need to call Ice In in the past because it ALWAYS froze by the beginning of Jan, sometimes earlier.
Just saying

It usually was around the third week of Jan before the broads were all frozen in.

[C-Bass]

Looks like the lake is iced back in again...

[geordie]

First reason to stick with the current method is consistency. If you change how you measure ice in and out then you can't compare dates anymore. Second is that this is simple, ice in is when the whole lake is covered, ice out is when all the ports are free. It's easy to check both. If you made ice-in when the ports are iced then you could get ice-in from a cold snap and then ice-out the next day when a warm wind turns up. The events that bracket the iced in period have to be well separated. There needs to be hysteresis.

[chachee52]

Originally Posted by tis

It usually was around the third week of Jan before the broads were all frozen in.

When I was a kid, I was out snowmobiling across the broads by the 2nd/3rd week of Jan, usually ice skating off the beach New Years-ish. It's been later and later each year until we finally got rid of the snowmobiles mid 90s because we didn't use them enough because the ice was in later and less snow.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

The contest requires Emerson to declare Ice In

Actually the rules as written do not say that at all and never have.

The changes the webmaster made TODAY allow that to happen as the rules state he is allowed to change the rules at any time which he did today...

Honestly and not that I care, but I see no difference if ice in is declared as Ice in does nor affect ice out as it relates to the mount and her ports...Ice out will still be declared by Emerson if the lake freezes over or not....

Dan

[webmaster]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

The changes the webmaster made TODAY allow that to happen.

I actually made the same comments last year when it appeared there was a small chance the lake wouldn't completely freeze. I think it was the best way to deal with the contest if that happened.