« Previous

33rd Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War

 Next »

January 22nd through 28th, 2024

Last week started off cold with a frosty Monday morning low of 0°F. That changed. Deep Winter ended by Monday afternoon as the temperature soared well into the twenties (°F). The third and most hopeful sub-season of Winter, Thaw, was here a week or two early. Few complained. Prior to last week, strong Deep Winter winds had blown most of the snow from the lake. The forecast painted a picture of a warm, dry period that may end in an early tree tapping. It was suddenly realized that if this year was to have a bottle rocket war, it would have to be soon. Fort construction started at once. By sunset on Monday, the southern fort was well over halfway there. By sunset on Tuesday, both of the forts required just a little trim work and maybe a short "Skip Wall". Just after noon on Wednesday, the southern fort was finished. It boasted a Krispa class launch cluster, a polycarbonate window, and three red "Infinity Stones of Warning". Its numerous icicle spikes were functionlessly furious. At about the same time on Wednesday, the northern fort was done. It also had a Krispa class launcher, a polycarbonate window, and three "Emeralds of Enthalpy". Later on Wednesday, all the event needed was a few rockets, combatants, and darkness. Due to the snow mining operations required for building the ramparts, this year's unprecedented Wednesday war had a practically snow free no man's land. The hard surface between the forts made the prudent addition of "Skip Walls" more important than ever. The event of Wednesday evening was a short, lightly attended affair. With only about 400 rockets, the battle lasted close to 20 fun filled minutes. Battle damage assessment and clean up started before noon on Thursday. Both "Skip Walls" absorbed more than a shot or two. The southern fort was less pummeled than it had seemed during the night before. With not much snow and 80% to 90% fewer rockets than usual, stick pickup took less than an hour. It got warmer on Thursday. This was intensely reflected in the state of the forts around mid-afternoon. By the weekend, the battle damage to the forts was overtaken by the melt destruction. The condition of Knott Lane got better. It's got to thaw a bit more to be declared "Minty Fresh", but it's a start. With all the melting, on Sunday we wanted to get a lake ice check while it was still sorta safe. Huzzah! As of Sunday, there was 10 inches of very good ice covering Lucerne. Sunday morning was greeted by a dusting of snow on the lake ice. By the end of the week, the walls of the southern fort fell. The northern fort was transformed into a strangely uniform lump of snow. The sun came out for the first time in like forever on Sunday. It made the air feel warmer than it really was. The Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War was just one of two major events last week. The second and more lasting occurrence was the timely demise of Deep Winter. The last strong El Nino event was the Winter of 2015-16. After reviewing the weather from that <a href='/WeeklySummaryPages/2016/index.html' class ='defaultlink2' target='_blank'>year's archive page</a>, the late ice-in and early end of Deep Winter this year should have come as no surprise. El Nino, short winter aficionados love it. Snowmobilers and winter sport enthusiasts, not so much. Could this foretell of an early tapping season and ice-out? Maybe, but we're not dusting off any spiles or contest code anytime soon.<br><br><br>-Nemo ain't putting away his hat quite yet.

2024 Archives All Archives

Classic View Home

knottlane.com