Northeast Kingdom ice update 12/12

[Evan Perkins]

We received plenty of rain last night in my area around  Barnet vt . It did snow about a half inch at the end of the storm, but it was above freezing, so there was no snow on any of the small ponds that I saw this morning. The surface conditions looked like smooth orange peel or better in most places I saw (this ice is likely sitting on top of a slush layer sandwich ) During my errands this morning, a snow squall came through dropping about a quarter inch of snow over the region, the snow landed on smooth ice so it probably will not negatively affect surface texture and there is also a chance that it may blow off as it's supposed to be breezy for the next couple days . It's certainly not impossible that we get enough small snow showers over the next couple days to inhibit ice growth or make visibility poor enough that folks choose not to skate, but at this point it looks promising for skating Saturday am. 

    Most of the ponds in our region appear to be frozen. Some that I knew were frozen before the storm are as follows. Molly's Falls reservoir, Marshfield, Vermont, Joes Pond, Danville, Vermont,Keiser pond peacham vt, Martin's Pond Peacham, Vermont,stiles pond st. Johnsbury Vermont

 (Picture of stiles pond below during a snow squall this morning)

The surface texture was actually quite good here mostly slightly textured with some minor imperfections due to previous melt and freeze. 1/4 inch of ice over about an inch of slush do not know bottom thickness, but it looked to be at least two or 3 inches.