Some Ice, More Wind

November 28th through December 4th, 2022

Lake Lucerne
Last week started off...well...not warm, but warm enough. Lows were in the 20s°F and high temperatures pushed close to 40°F. That's warm enough to give the illusion that golf would be possible if not enjoyable. Tennis would have been possible without cleats. Swimming would have been inadvisable. There's no ice to chop through, but the water temperature is a little cooler that I would have liked.
Lake Lucerne
Early in the week, there were thoughts of a touch-up mowing. Frozen ground under all that lawn combined with a lack of desire to actually do it kept mowers in their inactive, winterized states.
Lake Lucerne
Knott Lane started off the week with a little ice. It didn't completely cover the road, so the doom was somewhat localized.
Lake Lucerne
The squirrels were hyper-active all week.
Lake Lucerne
They were seen bullying birds and eating up to 10 times their body weight in seed on more than one occasion.
Lake Lucerne
On Thursday, it got cold. At first we thought that the lake had iced over during the night.
Lake Lucerne
Drone images showed some open water.
Lake Lucerne
When the wind picked up, the open patches were more visible.
Lake Lucerne
If the wind had remained calm, Ice In would have been just a day or two away.
Lake Lucerne
The wind picked up. By the evening, all the ice was pushed to the north shore where it broke up.
Lake Lucerne
Before the ice broke up, a few laggard geese started to make some "we've had it and are heading south" noise.
Lake Lucerne
During the warmer times and during the colder times, an eagle or two could be spotted gliding over the lake and making the squirrels anxious.
Lake Lucerne
The cold, blustery mornings after the ice/de-ice event had the lake steaming more than I have ever witnessed.
Lake Lucerne
The nights were cool and increasingly bright all week.
Lake Lucerne
By week's end, the flurries and light snow added up to a more wintery lane.
Lake Lucerne
While checking a propane tank on Trillium Lane it was further noted that this road is pretty wintery, too.
Lake Lucerne
The almost full moon gives off an awful lot of light, but very little heat. Single digit morning lows (°F) were not uncommon if not completely welcome. If the wind ever calms down and the mornings remain below frigid, Lucerne's ice-in will be sooner rather than later. The current open water on Lucerne allowed a final lake level check. Lake Lucerne was up 2.5 inches during the month of November. Huzzah!


-Nemo's still trying to warm up after that early morning hike.