Northeast kingdom ice report 12/19

[Evan Perkins]

  Well … that was a doozy of a December rainstorm, we are pretty heartsick for the areas that were flooded , in many cases for the second time this year.

    The storm was a snow and ice eater with rain driven by warm winds  . I was predicting 2-3” of ice loss given the forecast and it looks like it was closer to 3 at most venues I checked on farm deliveries today. All of the places I saw have melted out shorelines ( some of this is actual melting with rain runoff and some is just elevated water levels) and open water or weak spots at inflows and outflows.

     all of the venues I saw could be accessed with an 8 or 10’ board, many could be accessed with something shorter. Access will likely improve everyday as water levels drop and shorelines freeze up.

      Most of the venues that were reported early season in this area had 5-8 inches thick before the melt so after a couple cold nights should be in good shape. I saw good surface texture on lots of bodies of water today ranging from smooth to lightly textured with some areas with smooth bumps due to rain and wind erosion. Here is a partial list of bodies of water that may be good in the coming days given our current snow free forecast.

      Montpelier - wrightsville reservior

      Marshfield-Mollys falls

      Danville- joes pond

      Peacham -Keiser pond

                       -ewell pond

                       -fosters pond

                       - martins pond

      Ryegate- Symes pond 

      St Johnsbury- stiles pond

     As of the last good satellite image most of the ponds in the Woodbury- Hardwick and Craftsbury area were frozen and may have also survived.

      As a final word of caution these bodies of ice all have thin areas so check well and be prepared.

        Take care and help your neighbors,Evan