Recent Snow Fall

From my window in the metro looks like we got about 3-4 inches of fluffy snow last night. think this will have a big affect on the freeze? Its not heavy snow but it appears to be staying put and im thinking it will insulate a bit which is not good. With our forecast we were on such a good pace to make good solid ice! I know folks have already started venturing out but i think we needed just a few more days without this snow to make really good walkable ice.

I live south of Rochester and we got at least 6″. Most smaller bodies of water locked up last Thursday, but I don’t know how much ice was made before the snow. A few more days without snow would have been great.

With temps hardly above 12-13 degrees yesterday and last night as the snow fell the snow we got down here is very dry and lofty, not much weight to it. insulate yes, weigh down the ice? Probably not much.

I’m curious to this as well. How much affect does 2-6″ of fluff really insulate? I can see from a wind chill standpoint, but its not like you can go wrap yourself in 4″ of snow and you’re all comfy cozy warm. If its 12 degrees outside id assume it’ll still be 12degrees under the light stuff. If anything one could assume it may help since it would block any sunlight from hitting the ice.

FWIW, haven’t had second cup of coffee yet. Much interested in other thoughts on this being a newb to ice still.

I’m happy to see someone has beat me to the punch and asked the question of how this snow will affect the ice forming. Being fairly new to the sport I am still learning the ins-and-outs of all things ice fishing. I definitely want to be safe while out on the ice and with a severe itch to get out there I was very unhappy to wake up and see the white stuff covering everything. I understand how snow is an insulator but to what degree? With this artic air coming in this week how much will 6 inches of snow hinder the ice forming process? Are we talking a couple days to make the same ice that would form without a snow layer? Any, and all, information I can learn about how ice forms would be greatly appreciated; as I am still in the learning stages of this wonderful sport and I would like to participate in a safe manner.

nhamm wrote:

I’m curious to this as well. How much affect does 2-6″ of fluff really insulate? I can see from a wind chill standpoint, but its not like you can go wrap yourself in 4″ of snow and you’re all comfy cozy warm. If its 12 degrees outside id assume it’ll still be 12degrees under the light stuff. If anything one could assume it may help since it would block any sunlight from hitting the ice.

FWIW, haven’t had second cup of coffee yet. Much interested in other thoughts on this being a newb to ice still.

It may be 12 degrees outside but the water is still 33ish. So with 6inches of fresh snow insulation which is about equal to a 3 inch layer of fiberglass insulation it’s gonna take a while to cool that water down.

Our best bet is to get some howling winds that will blow that snow off the ice.

I’m on the north side of the metro and we got at least 8-10″ and it has been steadily snowing all day. The neighbor kids (who don’t seem very supervised sometimes) were out walking around on the lake.

I will try to poke a hole and measure sometime today. Huge bummer though – we were making good ice and it is supposed to get quite cold the next few days.

I second the need for wind. This stuff is dry and would zip off quick.

I good NW wind will send this fluffy crap to Wisconsin.

This snow blows donkeys fellas.

nhamm wrote:

I’m curious to this as well. How much affect does 2-6″ of fluff really insulate? I can see from a wind chill standpoint, but its not like you can go wrap yourself in 4″ of snow and you’re all comfy cozy warm. If its 12 degrees outside id assume it’ll still be 12degrees under the light stuff. If anything one could assume it may help since it would block any sunlight from hitting the ice.

FWIW, haven’t had second cup of coffee yet. Much interested in other thoughts on this being a newb to ice still.

According to Earth Science, 1″ of snow is about R-1 +/-. Compared to 1″ of foam that is about R-5. As for the actual insulation properties, you have many variables. Most important is the resistance of thermal transfer from heat source to Heat loss (outside elements). Since there is frost already in the ground, and the frost does have some R-value, you don’t get a true resistance factor for the thermal transfer from the 30′ average of 47 degrees by Rochester MN or the 52 degrees here in southern WI to the ambient air temp.

That is why in years of deep and constant snow cover, the frost in the ground doesn’t go as deep. Year of cold temps and no snow cover, you hear of frost at 5, 6 or 8 feet down in some areas.

but its not like you can go wrap yourself in 4″ of snow and you’re all comfy cozy warm. Maybe not 4″, but 4 feet. If its 20 below ambient temps and you make an igloo or snow tunnel to crawl into, you’ll stay a heck of a lot warmer.

Here is a link to a little better explanation on snow as an insulator

http://www.actforlibraries.org/why-snow-is-a-great-insulator/

When it comes down to it for what us new ice guys would like, we are all assuming ice is still forming at these temps, correct?

How much does your average 3, 6, 12″ of snow slow down that process? Instead of 1″/day, are we looking at maybe 1/2 that? Any temps above 20degrees any progress at all?

Find this very informative, thanks to all.

FWIW, Fleet has very cheap 52″ spud bars for something like $19, ice picks with neckholder around $8. Looking forward to spudding around this week.

Another 10″ forecasted for friday.
I hope the funny science weather guys are wrong
Barf

I’m no expert in ice making, but with several years of experience excavating in the winter months I consider myself well versed in ground frost. The fluffier the snow, the more air is trapped in between the flakes, the better the insulation factor is. For example rite now in most places in my area we have about a foot of frost in bare areas. Anywhere there’s a little grass that’s covered with even a little snow there’s little to no frost. Long story short, we need some wind to blow this crap off.

2.5″ of ice in the North metro with snow still falling and falling…

Eh… negative temps are negative temps. It’ll still make ice with snow on it, just not as much. I’d be more worried about the predicted foot next weekend… that will make it slushy and horrible.

I also commented in the Duluth Area report but my observations this weekend in NE Minnesota could apply here.

We had a lot of rain this year so a number of the smaller lakes I fish had high water levels that spilled into the bankside vegetation. With the very warm November there was no real freeze up before the first big snow up there. What ended up happening is the ground didn’t freeze and was likely insulated by the grass, cattails and snow cover on the lake edges. I checked a couple lakes on Sat morning (12/10) and there was only a skim of ice under the snow getting to the lake shore. Every step resulted in breaking thru ice into standing water. There may have been better ice once you got past the shoreline but I had no reason to risk a waist deep bath to find out.

including the snowfall being predicted later this week the cold weather being sandwiched in-between snow storms this ice season is shaping up bad IMO. if we get slammed with more snow it could be a devastating. At the very least I think the situation already exists where there is going to be unpredictable ice for much of the season.

crappie55369 wrote:

including the snowfall being predicted later this week the cold weather being sandwiched in-between snow storms this ice season is shaping up bad IMO. if we get slammed with more snow it could be a devastating. At the very least I think the situation already exists where there is going to be unpredictable ice for much of the season.

Why not fret when whatever is predicted actually starts mattering. And if it messes up the winter fishing you can always spend that time at home with the new addition and getting your open water gear ready.

Has there ever been a winter you couldn’t walk out and ice fish somewhere?

Leaves more ice for me if everyone is worried!

oh we’ll be able to walk. im not much concerned about foot travel

crappie55369 wrote:

including the snowfall being predicted later this week the cold weather being sandwiched in-between snow storms this ice season is shaping up bad IMO. if we get slammed with more snow it could be a devastating. At the very least I think the situation already exists where there is going to be unpredictable ice for much of the season.

Don’t be so negative Crappie! It’s not like this last snow is slushing up lakes, most of it will blow off Wednesday, and with the temps where they are, all lakes are still making ice as we speak. Sure not as fast as if there were these temps and no snow, but overall this is great start to the ice season imo.

Lotus lake in Chanhassen has about 3″ of ice with SLUSH….. ick