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And if anyone sees me building a snowman on a lake, would you please be kind enough to mention that I am on a lake and not in a meadow?
Senior moments are so frustrating.
Or maybe we'll have a moment too and join you. We could give them fishing poles and make it look like they're fishing. This is starting to sound like fun.
An ice fisherman was out with his friend. They were in his new GMC pickup and the friend asked about the OnStar system. The driver punched the blue button and a lady came back and said, "OnStar, How can we help you?"
The driver said he was just showing his friend how the system worked. The lady asked, "Are you on a ferry boat?"
"No."
"Well the system shows that you are on a big lake."
"Yes, We are ice fishing."
"Sir, You have your TRUCK on a LAKE?"
"Yes."
"Oh, Sir; You, you have to get your truck off the ice. Oh. that's terrible. You really have to get your truck off the ice sir."
The OnStar lady was in Texas where they don't ice fish and the Mainers had a good laugh. There was 2 feet of ice on the lake.
An ice fisherman was out with his friend. They were in his new GMC pickup and the friend asked about the OnStar system. The driver punched the blue button and a lady came back and said, "OnStar, How can we help you?"
The driver said he was just showing his friend how the system worked. The lady asked, "Are you on a ferry boat?"
"No."
"Well the system shows that you are on a big lake."
"Yes, We are ice fishing."
"Sir, You have your TRUCK on a LAKE?"
"Yes."
"Oh, Sir; You, you have to get your truck off the ice. Oh. that's terrible. You really have to get your truck off the ice sir."
The OnStar lady was in Texas where they don't ice fish and the Mainers had a good laugh. There was 2 feet of ice on the lake.
LOL That is so funny. I can see it happening as well.
I began this thread 9 years ago with the intent that it be all about ice; ice in your driveway, ice on the roads. ice on lakes, the harvesting of ice and the hazards of ice.
In February when it is 20 below, the surface of the ice is 20 below. However, the underside of the ice is in contact with lake water (or sea water which will be covered in another post.) the under side of the ice is 32 degrees. When lake water loses heat to the atmosphere above it freezes. That happens in the fall on the first night cold enough to freeze a small pond or a cove on a large lake. It happens on a calm night. Ice floats because it has a lower specific gravity than water Water is one of the few materials that expands as it cools.
When a sheet of ice a mile wide expands at its surface, the under side at 32 degrees dos not expand. Something has to give and the ice cracks. This is not just like a stick cracking;it is a really big boom. It can shake a camp on the shore of a lake. It makes people who have never seen this phenomenon very nervous. You can create this in your kitchen. Just take an ice cube at 20 below out of your freezer and drop it into tap water. The ice cube will likely crack. You can hear it and see it.
There is a phenomenon on lakes called pressure ridges. The bigger the lake and the colder the weather, the more likely the lake is to have pressure ridges. These can be shaped like tents or like ramps where one plate of ice rides up onto the other side of a crack. This is a good reason not to ride at high speeds on large lakes at night or during snow with reduced visibility. The snowmobile track you made yesterday on that nice smooth lake can have a 4 foot pressure ridge on it the next day. I personally know of two incidents where entire lake surfaces shattered like dropping a pane of glass on the ground. Chunks of ice were thrown into the air and the lake surface had pieces as small as a short driveway and as large as a football field, but the whole lake was shattered. It happened on Junior Lake and on Rangely Lake. I know it has happened on other lakes.
I hope this particular thread can focus on ice itself. Other threads can cover ice fishing, ice boating, favorite skating ponds and such. People even use tractor kites to tow themselves on skis or skates.
I began this thread 9 years ago with the intent that it be all about ice; ice in your driveway, ice on the roads. ice on lakes, the harvesting of ice and the hazards of ice.
In February when it is 20 below, the surface of the ice is 20 below. However, the underside of the ice is in contact with lake water (or sea water which will be covered in another post.) the under side of the ice is 32 degrees. When lake water loses heat to the atmosphere above it freezes. That happens in the fall on the first night cold enough to freeze a small pond or a cove on a large lake. It happens on a calm night. Ice floats because it has a lower specific gravity than water Water is one of the few materials that expands as it cools.
When a sheet of ice a mile wide expands at its surface, the under side at 32 degrees dos not expand. Something has to give and the ice cracks. This is not just like a stick cracking;it is a really big boom. It can shake a camp on the shore of a lake. It makes people who have never seen this phenomenon very nervous. You can create this in your kitchen. Just take an ice cube at 20 below out of your freezer and drop it into tap water. The ice cube will likely crack. You can hear it and see it.
There is a phenomenon on lakes called pressure ridges. The bigger the lake and the colder the weather, the more likely the lake is to have pressure ridges. These can be shaped like tents or like ramps where one plate of ice rides up onto the other side of a crack. This is a good reason not to ride at high speeds on large lakes at night or during snow with reduced visibility. The snowmobile track you made yesterday on that nice smooth lake can have a 4 foot pressure ridge on it the next day. I personally know of two incidents where entire lake surfaces shattered like dropping a pane of glass on the ground. Chunks of ice were thrown into the air and the lake surface had pieces as small as a short driveway and as large as a football field, but the whole lake was shattered. It happened on Junior Lake and on Rangely Lake. I know it has happened on other lakes.
I hope this particular thread can focus on ice itself. Other threads can cover ice fishing, ice boating, favorite skating ponds and such. People even use tractor kites to tow themselves on skis or skates.
I have seen that shattering and ridges on Lake Winnepesauki in NH....and when I was a kid in Canada...I remember hearing the booming as Lake Massawippi froze deeper and deeper and then cracked up and down the 20 miles of frozen lake.
When there is snow on a lake an the ice cracks, water can come up into the snow. Snow is very absorbent and a large area can "wet up" as we say. The weight of snow on the ice pushes down on the ice. Do NOT ride your snowmobile onto a grey area. That is slush and you could spin a track and get stuck. Your skis will freeze to the slush and you are not going anywhere. If you are out in front of your nice warm camp it is simply an inconvenience. If you are on Norway Lake where there are no camps and it is 20 below, you are in big trouble. If you want to stop your snowmobile on a frozen lake, make a big circle before you slow down. When you complete the circle and you find that your track has become grey, do not stop!
there are times you hear rolling thunder .....in a bad lightning storm,,,
well, these sounds are similar,,,,low rolling sounds... and sometimes cracks
my deck will snap crackle and pop(buckle) when it gets cold too,,,sometimes very loud snaps and cracks,,,
when I first moved here it startled me.....sounded like someone taking a sledge hammer to the deck,,
Vinyl siding creaks and snaps when the temperatures drop at night.
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