Warmer and Windy

Last week started off cloudy, icy, and cool. But mostly icy. Freezing rain events and thaws combined with colder nights to put an ice shell on our world.

The clouds eventually moved on and a warmer-than-last-month sun reflected off all that frozen crust.

The frozen, sintered layer on the lake is about an eighth of an inch thick. You break through with every step. The worst is having a boot catch the edge on the next step and having the choice of either falling or doing the massively uncoordinated and embarrassing dance-of-shame to stay upright.

The old bottle rocket forts are still up, but showing signs of age.

Some of the walls have a list to them and drifts have grown up around the sides. It looks like they should be recognizable come March. Not so much come April.

Under those forts, the ice is about 16.5 inches thick. I don't think we'll make a yard of ice this year.

The condition of Knott Lane is interesting. There's ice, snow, and stone lumpally applied to the length of the lane. No running, plenty of falling.

Ask any wild turkey and they'll tell you the best footing is in the middle.

Plows took care of the drifting on the road. They were somewhat less successful with the ice layer underneath.

A local bird feeder bandit tried to go unnoticed by acting like a deck post. It would have been more likely to pull off the urban camouflage if it had a little copper hat.

The wind picked up by week's end. Snow devils moved vast piles from one end of the lake to another.

Huge gusts made the northwoods feel like Florida in a Hurricane only with pines instead of palms. So far, the trees that line Knott Lane are still up (this property is not on Knott Lane).

The winds have passed. We are supposed to get warmer, then cooler, then tapping. The ice will go out sometime after that. Then Summer. Hazzah! In an effort to speed the perception of time between now and ice-out the 15th Annual Lake Lucerne Ice-Out contest is up (link on the right). It'll be linked to the main page in the upcoming days but for now only here to reward those that click on the weekly summary pages. Good luck and keep warm.

-Nemo, master of the Dance-of-Shame.

Warmer and Windy

February 6th through 12th, 2017