A potential great Ice Window for the coming week.

[Evan Perkins]

    We have had a good set up and a good weather forecast for the upcoming week. Obviously specific locations may differ, but here are some thoughts I have about where to look for ice. Many of the medium depth, mid-elevation ponds (in vt and nh )and shallow, larger lakes could have set up over the course of last night with a calm night and cold temperatures, most of them will have developed at most a half inch of ice. Today, much of the region was blanketed with a healthy snowfall. On some of these bodies of water, there is likely to be some good resurfacing as the snow submerges that thin skim creating slush ice . It is also possible that somebody's of water which did not skim last night had enough snow to create a floating slush layer That could freeze tonight. The wind is expected to slowly pick up through Thursday and Friday, with temperatures in the single digits or near zero in some locations Friday night. Any ice that formed earlier in the week should be good to go by the weekend. At potentially 3 to 4 inches thick. Any places that did not freeze have the chance to catch on Friday night when it is also supposed to be calm. Any ice that catches Friday night will probably not be ready until Monday for most folks, but could be at 2 1/2 inches by then. There is an essentially clear forecast until late Wednesday evening next week for most of the area. This adds up to the possibility of great Skating for the weekend and potentially through the middle of next week.

     Also, with the low water table, the snow is also a good set up for slow, moving bodies of water and swamp streams.

   It  would be really helpful if folks who are out and about tomorrow and Thursday could report any ponds or lakes that they see with new ice. This would give a sense for people to know where to look for the weekend.

    I think there is a high likelihood, particularly for parts of the lakes region in New Hampshire and the northeast kingdom in Vermont, but also quite possibly some lower elevation, shallow bodies of water that have not frozen yet. If anybody is near the Green River reservoir in Vermont, it might be a rare window to Skate that. For example. 

    I look forward to hearing people's reports, and happy Skating!

[Evan Perkins]

Sabin pond in Woodbury, Vermont, in the process of slushing out At around 2:30 this afternoon. There are probably many other bodies of water in this exact same situation.

[Krista Karlson]

Thanks Evan for sharing this post! 

I checked out a couple of small ponds in Thetford, neither of which are in great shape. 

Has anyone seen any other promising ice for this weekend?