It's Still Winter

February 27th through March 5th, 2023

Lake Lucerne
Last week's temperatures were very close to normal. A few highs pushed to 40°F. A few lows fell into the lower teens (°F). There were a few days with a clear sky and more with clouds. The lake also got some snow.
Lake Lucerne
Through warmer, cold, cloudy, and clear the roundest among us emptied bird feeders at an impressive rate.
Lake Lucerne
On Monday, we got about 3 inches of snow.
Lake Lucerne
Driveways that passed on shoveling up until now became a bit more impassable.
Lake Lucerne
Plowing, sand, and a warmer sun (when it was out) kept the roads around the lake in good shape.
Lake Lucerne
After plowing, Knott Lane was down to hard ice.
Lake Lucerne
On Thursday evening, the clouds moved to the east.
Lake Lucerne
The week's second snow event came on Wednesday. It was a little lighter than Monday's, but just as appreciated.
Lake Lucerne
Later in the week on more than one morning, we had low clouds crashing into the shoreline under a clear sky.
Lake Lucerne
The result was an ice coating on the trees.
Lake Lucerne
As the morning progressed, the coatings would get thicker.
Lake Lucerne
The frosty birch were the best.
Lake Lucerne
The bar's deck rails were safety checked after the snow. With a 3 turkey load and no discernible deformation, they passed!
Lake Lucerne
The snow, or more specifically the snow clearing operations, have not been kind to several mailboxes.
Lake Lucerne
On Sunday, a quick visual check was made of the lakes around Lucerne. Lake Wabikon et al., are showing no signs of an impending ice-out.
Lake Lucerne
Turning to the west, Lake Metonga looked pretty solid, too.
Lake Lucerne
After making tiny holes in the sky, the only task left was to journey onto the lake and check the thickness of the ice.
Lake Lucerne
This time of year, it can take longer than you'd think to drill a hole.
Lake Lucerne
Huzzah!
Lake Lucerne
We currently have about 15.5 inches of very good ice covering the lake. That's down about a half an inch from last week.
Lake Lucerne
The top side of the ice sheet was solid. The underside looked very hard, too.
Lake Lucerne
Sunday's sunset had a halo along with an implied promise of more snowy doom coming.
Lake Lucerne
The snowmobilers looked and sounded happy all last week. My guess is that the bars and restaurants that serve them are all smiles, too. It looks like we may get another week before the trails become muddy, the woods become quiet, and taps are joined to maples. It was rumored that sugarmen on the east side of the lake tapped some trees on the weekend, causing other sugarmen to shake their heads and spout some wisdom about the energy and foolishness of youth. Currently, the snow on the lake is about 6 inches thick, but it lacks that slush layer between the snow and lake ice. For now. We are expecting to see slush (and more snow **sigh**) soon.


-Nemo's looking forward to open water and clear driveways.