Just curious. How much ice thickness does everyone here think really cold days like the ones we are having will add to ice thickness each day. Right now most of the lakes in our area have little to no snow cover on them. With Night time temps getting in the -10 to -15 range and the daytime temps struggling to get above 0, I’m sure we are making ice rather fast. Just no idea of how much. Anyone know the answer or care to guess.
A inch a day
I think the inch a day is a pretty good baseline, but it depends on current thickness. The thicker the ice, the less it makes at a given temp. Believe someone shared a chart in the weather and ice thread showing this.
with the amount we had prior to the cold snap and the forecast for the next 5 or so days. We should have plenty by the weekend. Glad to see us get some good ice before getting snow on it this year.
There was a chart the other day said avg temp of zero makes like 4 inches in 24 hours then goes down after that
4″? did they use a glass of water or a actual lake to come up with this? 
Sure, this will vary a bit by lake but I would expect closer to 1″ as others have stated until proven otherwise.
4″? did they use a glass of water or a actual lake to come up with this?
Sure, this will vary a bit by lake but I would expect closer to 1″ as others have stated until proven otherwise.
The chart I seen is about a inch at 0 degrees a a quarter inch or so more at these really cold days. I’ve never seen a chart say 4 inches in 24 hours. I haven’t seen that chart. If that was the case I’d have my truck on chisago right now. But there’s still any where from 3 to 5
Top of page 5 weather & ice. Starting with skim ice 3.8″ in 24 hours. Starting with 6″ 1.9″ in 24 hours. 12″ 1.1″ in 24 hours.
Depends how much snow there is
A friend went on friday and said he quite going out at 2.5″ last night was just under 8″
But there’s still any where from 3 to 5
Your at 3-5″ even after the last 3 or 4 cold days? If so, how were you out fishing prior to that?
Depends how much snow there is
I said this in the last thread too. Obviously there’s more snow the further south you are. The lakes by me were still open water less than a week ago.
So many variables. There isn’t a chart that is accurate, just baseline estimates.
Even after the cold, on one lake we found everything from open water to 6″ of ice on Saturday. This lake is usually one of the first ones in my area to lock up.
Here is that chart. At -11 this AM and around -3 now, I would say Mille Lacs made at least 2″ in 24 hours, maybe 3″ as there is little snow cover. As said, the thicker it gets, the slower it grows.
ICE.jpg
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
But there’s still any where from 3 to 5Your at 3-5″ even after the last 3 or 4 cold days? If so, how were you out fishing prior to that?
Fished a different lake.
Hoping it’s all firming up nicely now.
Fished a lake Sunday afternoon and again Monday afternoon in about 20′ feet of water. Measured 5″ day one and 6.5″ day 2.
The formula to give a rough estimate is:
(32 – Average daily temp) / 15 = Inches of ice made in 24 hours
Things like current ice thickness, snow depth, cloud cover, wind, etc. will all affect it. The formula is for perfect conditions like skim ice and no snow, clear night skies.
Looks like winter is over starting next week again.
rsz_814tempnew.jpg
Yes – they are saying 30s again by early next week. Maybe we get 7 – 10 inches of good ice formed in the metro and fishing can remain vehicle free for an extended period of time ??
My preference is always open air ice fishing … no portable, no ice house, just fresh air and a good bite.
Looks like winter is over starting next week again.
Walleye dan did a bit on this and yeah the spots that were cover didn’t gain any ice and the spots that were uncover gained a ton.
This cold just absolutely blows! My wife brought her rig in for an oil change. Parked it inside, gave the service guy the keys and went to the lobby. He came out minutes later asking if she had trouble starting it and said no, I drove it here just fine. Well, the battery was dead so it needed a new dang battery and it wasnt even that old. Now my son’s truck is leaking coolant something fierce and I dropped that off this morning. Thankfully I have so many vehicles here we can be without his truck and still have a vehicle for all drivers.
Looks like winter is over starting next week again.
Famous last words? I’m reminded of the winter of ’18/’19. Photos below tell the story. I sure hope this doesn’t happen this year.
2-24-2019-scaled.jpg
1-25-2019-scaled.jpg
I’m reminded of the winter of ’18/’19. Photos below tell the story. I sure hope this doesn’t happen this year.
Wasn’t that the year we got like 15 inches of snow in mid April too?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe Jarl wrote:</div>
I’m reminded of the winter of ’18/’19. Photos below tell the story. I sure hope this doesn’t happen this year.Wasn’t that the year we got like 15 inches of snow in mid April too?
Yes. Started snowing mid Feb and didn’t stop until April.
Yes. Started snowing mid Feb and didn’t stop until April.
That year was awful. I think it was 2013 we had a similar scenario play out as well.
Isn’t that the winter I lived on Maui ??? 
yes 
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