This Is Interesting Stuff! Here's A Few Reasons Why.

  • The impact of Snow Coverage:  Snow coverage has a significant influence in ice formation and for allowing ice to melt.  First, during freezing months, the presence of snow on a lake can greatly impact how thick the ice will become during the winter months.  Snow can act as an insulator preventing the ice from reaching its full freezing potential.  Also, depending on how much snow is on the ice and the weight of it, the snow can weigh down the ice, causing cracks and forcing water to seep on top of the ice and make slush.  Snow being white reflects UV rays.  In fact snow is one of the most reflective natural surfaces on the planet.  Snow can reflect up to 80-90% of sunlight.  Therefore, when it is time for ice to melt in the spring… that snow needs to melt before the sunlight can impact the ice.  
 
  • White Ice:  White ice is the result of melted snow on top of naturally forming “clear” lake ice.  White ice is weaker and less dense than clear ice.  Part of this loss of strength is due to the presence of air bubbles and the ice crystals are smaller.  Clear ice is sometimes also called blue or black ice. 
 
  • Shoreline Melt:  Ice closest to the shoreline is often the weakest and thinnest as melting occurs.  This is due to typically shallow water and plant life that assist it in warming faster than the rest of the lake.  Often times people will assume the overall ice is very thin when water is visible on the shoreline, but this is simply due to nearby sand, rocks, logs, plants absorbing and transfering heat to the nearby ice.  
 
  • Lake Turnover:  In the fall, as lake surface water cools it becomes more dense.  When this happens that water sinks to the bottom of the lake and somewhat mixes in that process.  Lake turnover is essential to the health of freshwater lakes.  When lakes “turnover” this process replenishes oxygen levels in deeper lake water.  As soon as ice forms on the lake that ends the exchange of oxygen between the atmosphere and the water.  The ice and typical snow coverage also blocks the light needed for plants to produce oxygen.  A type of lake hibernation begins.  The lake must survive on all the oxygen it has stored once freeze happens until the like ice goes out in the spring.  
 
  • Fish:  Fish are cold-blooded, so their body temperature can match their environment.  They too initiate a type of partial hibernation.  All functions are reduced… metabolism, respiration, digestion and activity level.  This is essential with a reduced food supply.  
 
  • 39.2 Degrees Fahrenheit:  This is the temperature when lake water (and water in general) reaches its maximum density.  In the fall, lake water continuously cools and sinks to the bottom fo the lake until the whole lake reaches 39.2 degrees.   It is at this point where ice can begin to form at the top surface of the lake.
 
  • Freezing Ice Is Noisy:  When ice freezes on a lake it can give off a groaning and booming sound.  This is quite unnvering even for people use to this phenomenon.  It’s simply the result of expanding ice.
 
  • Wind:  Wind plays a crucial role in melting ice by continuously replacing the cooler air near the ice surface with warmer air. This process increases the rate of heat transfer, allowing more heat to reach the ice and resulting in faster melting. Essentially, wind acts like a “fan,” blowing away the cooler air layer and exposing the ice to warmer air from farther away.
 
  • Above Sea Level (on average):  White Bear Lake is 924.9 feet above sea level.  Bald Eagle Lake is 911.87 feet above sea level.