Bizarro Winter

February 13th through 19th, 2017

Lake Lucerne
Last week started wintery enough. There was snow (albeit not much), cold, and wind, but the trend as the week marched on was warmer. By the weekend, we had a full breakout of Bizarro Winter. Bizarro Winter, that most rare seasonal anomaly, is defined by its ice-less roads, 50+°F air, blue sky and hatlessness.
Lake Lucerne
Bizarro Winter has not been kind to the snow forts. They'll need a major refit if they are to ever be made combat ready again.
Lake Lucerne
Bizarro Winter has slain many of the cold seasonal monsters. The graves of snow devils dotted the north end of the lake in great numbers.
Lake Lucerne
Snow-goers took advantage of the brief period before the snow turned to slush and water to dance on the graves of the snow devils.
Lake Lucerne
The two buoys on the South end of Lucerne are free from the lake ice! They can bob up and down, but there's still not much side to side freedom.
Lake Lucerne
The old Timber Shores cabins 1 and 2 are enjoying the Winter in Sunfish Bay. Someday we need to make a map of all of the colloquially named features of the lake.
Lake Lucerne
A flock of wild turkeys continue to cranberry up the North end.
Lake Lucerne
Knott Lane is getting better. It's quite nice where the road is peaking out from under the ice. Other parts are still treacherous.
Lake Lucerne
The road to the maples is snow covered and less traveled. Still, we needed to ask the trees if they were ready for tapping season.
Lake Lucerne
They're not ready yet.
Lake Lucerne
Bizarro Winter has flattened many Winter features but the final blow to the bottle rocket snow forts was not delivered by this seasonal aberration, but rather by a 10 minute play date with a couple of snow goes. There's currently a liquid layer on top of the lake ice. That'll firm up with the coming cold, leaving a peak ice depth of about 18 inches. We'll measure it to confirm the thickness soon. If the snow prediction holds for this coming Friday, that could add a few inches as it compacts down. All this ice talk can only mean one thing; knottlane's 2017 Lake Lucerne Ice-Out Contest is posted! Get your date while the gettin' is good.

-Nemo's still somewhat stunned by the rude maple.