OPEN WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saw this glorious sight today when looking towards Margerets.

Might be hard to see, but the dark area is OPEN WATER! complete with ducks and loons swimming in it. this is between the south shore and Margerets Island!

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looking north east towards holiday pines, and the north beach there are a lot of dark spots forming. soon to be other open water areas!

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open water has been spreading from where I first saw it, north east towards the mouth of the Trent. it has also been spreading from the mouth back towards us in the south west.

this is kinda shocking to me as the nights have been quite cool lately. although the weather forecast is for colder temps this week, staying below freezing, and maybe some................... snow!!!! they are forecasting sun for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. hopefully the melt can continue.

only thin i can figure is that the ground is warming up, thus warming up the water and therefore melting from beneath. not really sure what else could be happening

1) In the late fall, the lake loses heat to the atmosphere, and then on a day or night when the wind is not blowing, ice forms. The ice gets thicker as long as the lake can continue to lose heat.

2) In most Januaries and Februaries, snow both reflects sunlight and insulates the lake. With a thick snow layer, the lake neither gains nor loses heat. The bottom sediment is actually heating the lake water slightly over the winter, from stored summer heat.

3) Around March, as the air warms and the sun gets more intense, the snow melts, allowing light to penetrate the ice. Because the ice acts like the glass in a greenhouse, the water beneath it begins to warm, and the ice begins to melt FROM THE BOTTOM.

4) When the ice thickness erodes to between 4 and 12 inches, it transforms into long vertical crystals called "candles." These conduct light even better, so the ice starts to look black, because it is not reflecting much sunlight.

5) Warming continues because the light energy is being transferred to the water below the ice. Meltwater fills in between the crystals, which begin breaking apart. The surface appears grayish as the ice reflects a bit more light than before.

6) The wind comes up, and breaks the surface apart. The candles will often be blown to one side of the lake, making a tinkling sound as they knock against one another, and piling up on the shore. In hours, a sparkling blue lake, once again!

Dirk

skitzo wrote:
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That was last Friday. I had to go down to the dock to get a good view of the small water hole. That same hole now stretches most of the length of Margerets Island.

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skitzo wrote:
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The previous dark spots are now open water towards the Trent.

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Is that where I dock my boat for a beer in the summer?

Dirk....LOL

Diggyj/Dirk - thanks for the interesting info on lake freeze/melt! I'm hoping we're at stage 5 right now..

MODIS got a clear shot of the lake yesterday.
Looks like the water is now visible from space! You can clearly see the open water by me, and again you can see some more by the mouth of the Otonabee. Should be interesting to compare to todays MODIS shot.

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temps are still cold.... sun is out, however, it needs to warm up.
I was out by this time last year. i remember seeing boats april 1st.

i imagine we are 2ish weeks behind schedule compared to last year. how will that impact things? lake temps? i imagine it won't so long as the temps hear up. i remember being in the water (swimming) the long weekend of may...

Last year - as a RL rookie, real rookie - I didn't know any better and called the marina and they agreed my boat could be out of storage on Apr 3. So, of course, it was in the water Apr 3. Everyone else waited another 1 1/2 months. I'm going to be more reasonable this year. And actually make sure the marine railway can operate. Last year it took two days to beat the rails into shape. Oh well this are the moments that try men's souls.

ICE OUT !!!!!!

i have people comming easter to help me build our new floating dock.
i plan to have the jet ski's in the water that weekend.... lets go mother nature!