Isle Royale Forums

I had wave action under the ice this past January during a big SW blow. I don't blame them for turning back that far out. It is freaky when you see the ice moving and hear it groaning. I knew I had at least 10" of good ice, so I cut a hole and watched to see if water level went up and down with the wave, it didn't so I stayed, if it had I would have went closer to shore where the ice was over 2'.

looking at the imagry... it sure looks like a solid bridge from canada, heck a darring sole could probably make it from the UP... might have some exciting gaps to cross and or some ice edges to climb...

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/webdat ... 3.250m.jpg

Very impressive amount of ice on Lake Superior this winter. And with more sub-zero temps in forecast for next week, it won’t be going anywhere soon. I’ll be curious as how the predicted winds will rearrange things the next few days. They’re predicting gusts as high as 50mph.

Friday's winds did a number on it. Tuesday along the north shore from Duluth to Thunder Bay was ice as far as you could see, not thick but ice with 6-8 inches of fresh snow on it. By Friday the ice along the north shore from Grand Portage to Duluth was gone from view, not melted, but piled up on top of itself moving further and further off shore. The sat image looks as though that NW wind eliminated at least 30% of the ice cover. There is still good ice between the island and CA now, it appears that has locked up if this past wind didn't move it.

It’s amazing what powerful winds can do to the icepack. I wonder if this week’s predicted very cold temperatures will refreeze the open water.

Also, I just heard this morning (Weather Channel) that the icepack on Lake Superior usually reaches it's max the first week of March. After that, it quickly diminishes. We’ll see what happens this year.

I checked in with the NOAA folks about ten days ago to ask about getting to the island on May 17th via ferry from Grand Portage. They indicated there was a high probability we would have no problems. I have heard from others though that it is not guaranteed.

Any thoughts?

The way this winter is going, who knows?

May 17th is over two months away. As hard as it is to believe right now, the ice on Lake Superior will eventually melt. I least I hope so.

It wont take long on the main lake once it starts to warm up a little, wind and waves will speed things up quite a bit. They might have to do some extra ice breaking in the harbors. If I remember correctly, the first time the ranger tried to go to Windigo last year the ice was too thick.

Lucky Chicken wrote:If I remember correctly, the first time the ranger tried to go to Windigo last year the ice was too thick.

Yes, in April.

The next 10 days in the Twin Cities call for temps in the mid 20s to mid 40s. Let the warming begin!!