By Susan Trask, July, 2015

What a winter it was! Even many cold weather enthusiasts found themselves yearning for spring after the relentless winter of 2015. It certainly was depressing to still see huge piles of snow along the roadsides and under shady spaces in mid-April! This circumstance led to a lot of speculation among lakeside residents about the date of ice-out. Would the heavy snowfall and bone-chilling temperatures make for a later-than-average ice-out? It did seem that it took an awfully long time to see those welcome signs of impending melting: the dark, spongy-looking patches, the puddles of water along the shoreline from melting snow on the bank. Finally, open spaces began to appear, and, as frequently happens, the ice just seemed to disappear! By the way, even though this phenomenon makes it appear that the ice is sinking, it’s not! (Have you ever seen an ice cube at the bottom of a glass of water?!) So this year that glorious ice-out day was April 21. I was astonished when I compared it to previous years: It was actually 2 days earlier than last year! My guess is that the heavy layer of snow insulated the ice and prevented it from forming as much as it would have otherwise. The ice-out phenomenon is a never-ending source of curiosity and speculation, and it’s always interesting to see the dates over time. Here are the records back to 1969, courtesy of Peg Wallingford, Jan Marston, and yours truly.

Average ice-out date in those 47 years: April 14