Ice-Out Declared!

[webmaster]

Ice-Out on Lake Winnipesaukee was officially declared on Sunday 3/17/24 at 4:37 pm!

[webmaster]

The winner of the 2024 winnipesaukee.com Ice-Out Guess Contest is:

Dave B. - 3/17/24 at 4:19 pm (within 18 minutes).

[jeffk]

The new earliest day of the record.

[WinnisquamZ]

Originally Posted by jeffk

The new earliest day of the record.

Is it? Trust, but verify as one President once said


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[JayR]

The streak is alive!! Another year, another bad guess...

Early money for 2025 is for winter to make a big comeback. Late April ice-out. You heard it here first!!

[jeffk]

Originally Posted by WinnisquamZ

Is it? Trust, but verify as one President once said


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Well, since the Ice Out page on the forum lists them all since 1887, including this year, I think we can be pretty confident.

[WinnisquamZ]

Excellent. Congratulations to Mother Nature


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[Biggd]

I declare "boats in".

[TCC]

Originally Posted by jeffk

Well, since the Ice Out page on the forum lists them all since 1887, including this year, I think we can be pretty confident.

Who flew over the lake to determine ice out in 1887?

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by TCC

Who flew over the lake to determine ice out in 1887?

Wilbur Wright?

Dave

[WinnisquamZ]

Originally Posted by TCC

Who flew over the lake to determine ice out in 1887?

Exactly. However, I didn’t want to take this conversation down the rabbit hole


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[tis]

When I was young I remember my father coming home and saying ice out was declared. It wasn't Emerson in those days.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by TCC

Who flew over the lake to determine ice out in 1887?

I think they may have had someone at each port and just declared notes to the best of their ability.
The Mount wasn't around at that time to worry about whether all the ports were open at the same time.

[webmaster]

Originally Posted by TCC

Who flew over the lake to determine ice out in 1887?

From Wikipedia:

Ice-Out records have been kept since 1887 as a way to keep track of when both commercial and passenger transportation lanes became usable in the lake. In 1974, Dr. William K. Widgert compiled data from known records to create a list of past dates.

Originally the Ice-Out designation was decided by people on shore. Later, for roughly 50 years, the call was made by Bob Aldrich, then, starting in the early 1980s, it was called by Alan Emerson. Since his death in 2002 it has been exclusively called by his son Dave, except in 2003 when it as declared by flight instructor Steve Sydorwicz.

[tis]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

I think they may have had someone at each port and just declared notes to the best of their ability.
The Mount wasn't around at that time to worry about whether all the ports were open at the same time.

Whatdaya mean the Mount wasn't around in those days????

[John Mercier]

The Mount wasn't on the lake in 1887.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

I think they may have had someone at each port and just declared notes to the best of their ability.
The Mount wasn't around at that time to worry about whether all the ports were open at the same time.

Or they just traveled by boat?

[Descant]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

The Mount wasn't on the lake in 1887.

{Alton Bay}... is also the birthplace of the Mount Washington cruise ship, as the original side-wheeler was launched in Alton Bay in 1872.

[tis]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

The Mount wasn't on the lake in 1887.

It wasn't?

The history of the MS Mount Washington dates back to 1872 when the original paddle

[fatlazyless]

So, Lake Winnipesaukee ice-in was declared on Feb 9, and 37 days later, ice-out was declared on March 17. That's just 37 days of ice-in.

[John Mercier]

I didn't think it went back that far.
I always think of the Mount in its current formation.

[jeffk]

The reality is that "history" is often a compilation of various methods of record keeping by different people. Obviously as times and technology change, the way things are determined (and remembered) can change. Accuracy can also vary. Can you imagine the information crawling around the lake in 1887 about the various locations and their condition and the consensus that, indeed, the lake had completely thawed out? Did they have some dedicated volunteers who decided to travel around checking things out? Did some traveling merchants take on the responsibility?

One thing I would point out, all the early records had dates in April or May except for 1921 (March 28) and 1946 (March 30). All the other March dates are in 2010 or later. I would assume that modern record keeping is more accurate so I have some "faith" that these early dates recently ARE setting a new record.

I accept that Dr. William K. Widgert's 1974 compilation of ice out records is about as accurate as we are likely to get. Since Ice Out is mostly an all in fun New Hampshire tradition, we can enjoy the records we have and not worry too much about exactly how they all came together.

[ITD]

New ice forming today near Center Harbor.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by ITD

New ice forming today near Center Harbor.

Alton Bay as well. Quite a bit at the southern end.

[ITD]

Center Harbor bay too, as far as I could see. Probably won't last long, but certainly a test for rules pedants.

[John Mercier]

Not really.

The Webmaster made the rules of the game that Ice In had to be declared before the end of February for the contest to be in effect.

So Emerson declaring Ice In now would be after the end of February.

The reason so that many, if not most, of the contest us the Emerson declaration is to limit the multiple interpretations that people could have on the contests.

So even if the entire lake was to freeze over, and Emerson declare a second Ice In... it would be too late under contest rules.

Once Emerson declares Ice Out... that is used for the contest... and the contest ends; regardless of what happens afterward and whether anyone disagrees with the Emerson declaration.

It keeps something that is done in fun in that category.