Snow slowing the icemaking process...Your .02$....

[BOEDY]

Ive had it drilled into my head since I was a kid that snow will insulate the ice and slow it down. Ive been putting alot of thought into lately, If the ice is being made from the bottom (water meets the ice) how much would the snow effect it. Thought it would be interesting to see some other opinions (im sure this is the first thread about this :lol:) . What do YOU think.

[umas911]

Well I dont know much about this but last weekend while fishing there was no snow on the ice and it was making all kinds of noise, then today lots of snow and only heard the ice make noise 1 time today so Im sure there is something to that

[stinger63]

Yes snow cover espeacily if heavy in thickness slow the ice making progression down but with the temps that are predicted say the middle of this next week I dont think its going to matter.

[BOEDY]

Not saying your not right, but why? Like i said, ive been saying that my whole life to. Anybody have an explination?Can you see where im coming from, the ice forms from the bottom of the ice down. The ice is the same temp with snow on it or not. No??? The only thing i can think of is if wind comes into play cooling the ice more and the snow keeping the wind from hitting the surface of the ice.

[stinger63]

In order for the water undernieth to get cold and freeze,It has to be very cold on the top of it. If its insulated on top it will take longer than if theres no snow.

[Cpt.Chaos]

Snow does help insulate the ice, slowing the freezing process. Also, the weight of alot of snow pushes down on the ice, forcing water up through pressure cracks turning the ice into a slushy mess, which cna also insulate the ice further. I have seen this happen a few times on Higgins, where there was 1' of snow on top of slush on top of 4-5 ices of ice. Makes for very bad ice.

The freezing process of ice isn't just it gets cold and freezes. Water has to turn over a few times for it make "good ice" fast. Meaning the water has to be a uniform temperature, around 39 degrees F. This is the temperature that water, in it's liquid state is it's densest(and heaviest), therefore it sinks to the bottom of the water column(turnover). The water directly under the ice is usually right around 33-34 degrees, and needs the extra cold from above the ice to further thicken/expand. Snow cover insulating the ice will prevent this from happening.

[wannabapro]

Water under the ice wants to be about 40*. If there is no snow on the ice, the cold temps from the air will more easily penetrate the ice to the water right underneath, cooling it to below 32* where it freezes to make ice from below and allows it to thicken. When there is a thick layer of snow on the ice, this shields the cold air from penetrating the ice to reach the water underneath, thus the 40* water far below is allowed to keep the water just below the ice at 32* and not freezing anymore and slows or stops the thickening process unless air temps are like below zero and then the cold air will override the insulating effects of the snow.

[wannabapro]

Capt Chaos pretty much summed it up as well with a slightly different way to explain.

[BOEDY]

:idea: Makes sense to me. Thanks....

[roger23]

it also covers bad spots in the Ice....I have been wet more than once,,because of opened pressure cracks that opened up refroze while open with only a inch or so of Ice,,,