3 replies to this topic

[mtrsteve]

Hello all, my first post here!
This is not just an ice-fishing question, but an ice-safety question in general.

I am wondering what effect a warm spell/snap has on lake ice conditions and safety. In particular, it has been about -15C for the last couple weeks in my neck of the woods, and the ice is clearly nice and sturdy right now (haven't tested depth).

Our forecast for this week says that around midweek the temp will shoot up to almost +10C (daily high +10, daily low +1 for that day). There is also about 5-10 mm of rain forecast for that day. Before and after are supposed to be very cold again (-5C to -10C).

My question is if this is likely to render the ice unsafe on the following weekend.
Will one warm day ruin the ice?
How much will the rain rot the ice?
Are a couple of cold days after enough to 'repair' the ice?

Given the conditions, I plan to test the ice depth when I get there, but the lake is ~1 hour away, so it would be nice to have reasonable expectations before leaving.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Tynan

[O.My.Buddy]

A couple of factors here, knowing what the thickness is to start off would be good too. Is the lake big enough for wind to be an issue? Snow helps for a thaw, a good depth of snow will insulate the ice and absorb the rain to a point. 3-5 inches of ice can get mushy real fast in near record +10 temps and rain. I was out on cooch today at Tudhope and there's 6 inches of ice and 3-4 inches of snow. Ice there should come thru alright. Simcoe is 4-5 inches and not much for snow. It could be screwed for a while. Worst case scenario is the wind piles up what there is on some shore and it needs to totally refreeze again. I'd like to see at least 2 or 3 nights of -15 or colder myself. 48-72 hours below -10. Something similar to building 2-3 inches of fresh ice to have confidence any open/weak spots have probably refrozen.

[mtrsteve]

The lake is pretty sheltered form the wind. There was about 6-8 inches of snow on it when I was there on the weekend, except for the part I cleared off for skating =p

Sounds like I might have to skip a weekend. Hopefully we have a cold February!

[O.My.Buddy]

That amount of snow is going to take alot of the hit, the that is pretty short and a good freeze for 2 days like you say. You'd probably be ok for this weekend but maybe better safe than sorry. Be careful around any areas of current.