Western Maine lakes iceout

i hate assuming
but the original post inferred (unless I misunderstood) that the paddling season would be shortened because of the bitterly cold winter causing a lengthier freeze. All I was saying was to get around that, you have to open your travel options.

Makes sense
I figured that was your assumption. It also makes sense that many people do most of their paddling close to home. I myself paddle several hundred miles a year within 100 miles of home (mostly within 60 miles), and typically am able to take only about four to five days per year of paddling-related vacation time, which perhaps is the reason I don’t assume traveling is a logical solution to the “problem” for any certain individual (I put “problem” in quotes because I myself am not bothered by a shortened paddling season at all, as already noted).

Hadn’t thought of that
But it could be sheer time and luxury to travel. Much of the best paddling in Maine is a heck of a drive. That means to get out of Maine as well as to get into it. We go to midcoast each year for some amount of time, and it is a once-there-stay-put kind of vacation. I regularly have offers to play (music) back around home while we are there, but it is just too long a haul to come back for a pickup concert.

Not disagreeing with the paddling-thing,

– Last Updated: Mar-23-14 2:49 PM EST –

there is a lot of water around, and as GBG mentioned..and I can attest to..."close to home" is at the top of the list, wherever you are, but don't know about the skiing-thing, you don't often see that many good skiers saving up their paychecks to go to Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma...etc...to get their pow fixes...mmulvey.;-) ...although give the climate a little time...farmland needs water..
*AND after all the driving, Celia, one still has to put up with the stupid fees.

Ice out here in central Iowa

– Last Updated: Mar-25-14 1:46 AM EST –

Well at least the ice left our six acre pond yesterday. However the snow is due back tonight and tomorrow. The forecast is from 1-4 inches by Monday afternoon.

This winter is not leaving without a fight, but it will leave damn it!

NW Joisey still solid
Wallkill River run shut down fer awhile…



FE




…AND having almost announced
winter dead in a few weeks = will probably guarantee us of 12"+ in a few days…lol…lol.

-18 tonight in Rangeley
That must be some kind of record for March. It’s 38 degrees below normal.



Nighttime temperatures aren’t going to be above freezing for another month, according to forecasters. That means there will be thawing on some rare days for the next month and refreezing at night, with no net loss of ice.



So significant ice loss won’t start until May 1. Seems doubtful that it could all melt during the month of May. So I’m revising my ice-out prediction to . . . July 1! Yeah, I’m serious! You are forewarned to find something else to do for the next three months.

Moosehead ice out
I did some math for ice out on Moosehead Lake, the largest lake in Maine. Average iceout in the past 30 years has been May 4th with the latest being May 15th in 1978. 1846 ice out was May 26 which is where Mamorial Day falls this year.

Update
There is some 3-4 feet of ice as of today on Chesuncook and Moosehead.



You can look at this



http://me.water.usgs.gov/reports/OFR02-34.pdf



its in Julian days so you have to do some math and do your own estimate

Four feet!
We’re doomed. Any mathematicians here?



http://acwc.sdp.sirsi.net/client/search/asset/1011025.

still a lotta good snow out there…

Poll?
Maybe we should start a pole for ice out on one of the big lakes. My guess is May 17.

Well there are various effegies
on poles on floats…Deliberately unbalanced so that when the ice goes out the float falls over and in goes the figure.



There is one on Moose Pond and another on Crystal Lake around here



http://kezarlife.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/moose-pond-ice-out/



Phone number is still good. Might as well try to make a bit of money.



Moose is not likely to fall in Moose Pond right now as it did in March 2010



http://www.moosepondassociation.org/MPA%20Latest%20News.html

His treatment, with respect to the angle

– Last Updated: Apr-02-14 12:49 PM EST –

of the sun's rays(ever increasing) is on par with Oregonian pi = 3.0.... It's not a minor issue imho...perhaps I'm wrong..but I'll bet ya' a lunch @BlackFrog(in Greenville) it'll keep ice-out within a week +/- of 5/31. The ever increasing angle of the sun generating warmth on solid objects is a large part of the puzzle.

May first is day 121

Snowpack above Milo IS still pretty deep
… Think you’re closer to reality than I was Waterbird, as you probably suspected. Unless some drastic meltdown occurs we are headed for a 2nd-week+ June iceout on Moosehead imho.

Channel 6 last night
reported the average snowpack state wide was 8.2 inches with a wide range of cover from 0 (south) to 80 inches (north).



Ice fishermen are expected to be out at least another week or ten days in the south. There were quite a few enjoying the sun yesterday



http://www.pressherald.com/news/At_last__Maine_law_allowing_April_ice_fishing_has_some_solid_benefits_.html



We had a nice snow walk in Pownal yesterday.

Chesuncook Web Cam

– Last Updated: Apr-15-14 8:51 PM EST –

http://www.chesuncooklakehouse.com/component/content/article/2-uncategorised/3-webcam1.html

This thread brings me back to trips in the northwest territories when we had a July 1 put in date and we were all getting panicky and checking the satellite images every day and they showed the lakes we were planning to land on were still full of ice until the morning we all had to fly to Yellowknife. One of the trips involved landing on a small lake that was still 50% iced in.

Its starting
http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/water_activities/boating/ice_out_dates.shtml



Looks about two weeks later than last year. That link has several webcams in addition to Chesuncook.