Lake Superior about to freeze over

“Hey guys!

Lake Superior is 90% covered by ice and should freeze over in the next couple of days.

http://www.mininggazette.com/loclnews.html#second

Anyone want to walk to Isle Royale?”

“Oh yeah. It's the first time since 1979 that the lake will freeze completely.”

“That's a lotta ice...”

“I'm starting to have spring weed problems down here.
The pine tree pollen started a week or so ago.”

“Wow! Cool! 1979? I can barely remember that!”

“Its like its turning back into a glacier! Ill walk to Isle Royale with ya Lurker! How are ya anyway?”

“I almoooooooooost walked across the Mississippi once. OK, so it's a lot narrower. LOL! But those ice fishing huts in the sloughs keep it interesting. However, there was a bit of open water in the main channel, on the Wisconsin side.”

“Hey that's very cool!”

“Well, it and a whole lotta things might freeze over with the next blast that's heading this way! Time for the tulips to start pushing up!”

“That is the same year that the Ohio River froze over here in Cincy and our last major blizzard. One could walk on top of the river to Northern KY that winter.”

“Wow, RL. Wish there was a pic on that link.”

“Thanks! That second link, from Eagle Harbor, is awesome!!”

“I just talked to my client in Marquette today. Makes me wish I was in the UP playing instead of SE Mich.”

“Another note from the Great Lakes Aquarium Harbor Watch Field Manual (http://www.glaquarium.org/learn/lakematters/harborwatch/fieldmanual.html):

"Lake Superior can freeze over completely during intervals of very cold, calm weather, as occurred in the winters of 1977-78, 1993-1994 and 1995-96."”

“It is theorized (sp?) that the wolves who now inhabit Isle Royale had ancestors that chased moose across Superior from Canada and Minnesota (shortest walk) during a harsh winter.

Seeing Eagle Harbor makes me want some sourdough bread and thimbleberry jam from the monks at the Jam Pot.”

“What will the Iraqi submarines do?”

“sally,

The subs are still stuck in the Chicago sanitary and ship canal. The green St. Patrick's dye, however, usually loosens enough ice for safe passage into Lake Michigan.

I hear the Iraqis are aiming the thrust of their invasion force towards Beaver Island.”

“LOL!!”

“I thought the Big Lake had frozen over one winter while I was at Tech. So much for those lake-effect snows. At least Carnival is over, and they don't have a huge need for fresh powder...except for skiing. :)


Mmmm, chocolate-chocolate chip muffins from the Jam Pot sitting by the falls on a warm spring day.....”

“http://pasty.com/bridge/bridge_picture.asp


I can see the house I lived in my last year there in the bridge cam pic. :)”

“http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/Great_Lakes/5_Lake_Composite/West_Composite/current.jpg

SKATE ON THE LAKE? Some meteorologists believe Lake Superior
will soon freeze over completely; others say it has already
happened. A National Weather Service graphic
(http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/Great_Lakes/5_Lake_Composite
/West_Composite/current.jpg) appears to show a mostly-
covered lake, although some of the ice is only ten-tenths of
an inch think. The last time the lake was completely covered
was 1996.”

“Ten-tenths of an inch?

Call me old-fashioned, but around here, we call than "an inch"...”

“Superior freezing over is good news for those concerned about lake levels. Evaporation has been outpacing runoff, with the expectation that Superior will be down about 5" and Michigan and Huron down 17" according to some figures that I saw over the weekend. The other Great Lakes are also going to be down -- and this pattern has been going on for several years.”

“This is very cool! I almost went to forestry school at Tech in 1983. I visited Houghton in late May and was shocked by the still wintry conditoins while we were steaming in Maryland.
It sounds kike great place to live.”

“bit- it must be a Bama thing. I'm a couple of hours south of you and I call ten-tenths and inch also. I also call sixteen-sixteenths and inch. What do you call 6/16" I usually call that 3/8". How about you?

Forecast for my weekend trip is a high of 70 and a low of 50.”

“I'm guessing it's some sort of "Southern thing" too, like using the word "ameliorate"...”

“Kno what?
The nother day when me and my daddy was at Miss Shunshines hous we went walkin in the woods. We walked and walked and walked (that is when Miss Shunny tried to see my daddys goober when he peed) til we got to the LANNIC OSHEN! I sayed "OH MY GOODYS - ther is the LANNIC OSHEN!" and my daddy sayed "that aint no Lannic Oshen - that is Lake Sperrier." and I sayed "huh?" and my daddy sayed "dreenk" and I dreenkt and it was GOOD WATTER!

And the nother time we WALKED ON THE WATTER! at Lake Clamplane cuz it was FREEZD!

Them was goooood times.

Gawd Bless The Merica!

Kno what els?
Once and once a time Lake Sperrier freezd and woofs and moos and marmrats and ratcoons and rok rats and tree rats and deers and grabs walked on the freezd watter alllll the way to Royal Eyland!”

“Jo - I graduated from Tech at the end of May, 1996 (the last time Superior froze over). There was still snow on the ground. Graduation day was also the first day we had that spring over 65 degrees. :) It is an incredible place.


LOL, the guy who writes these snippets usually screws something up, I'll have to let him know that 10-tenths of an inch is the same as an inch. :)”

“The triumphant return of Sarabelle, where you been, chasing rats? I haven't heard from you for a while.”

“I have been ever wher.

I was heer the nother day. Wher was you?
/o:3”

“Smiley Girl,

Hey! So what did you study? In hindsight I wish that I had gone to Tech. My brother-in-law graduated in 78. My grandfather built the high school back in 1920.
What do you do now?”

“I have a B.S. in Environmental Engineering, but mostly I play as a civil engineer. Close, but I never had any steel, or concrete, or structures classes. I was mostly chemistry and biology and wastewater/water treatment, etc.

I used to live 3 houses from the old Houghton High School. I'm sure it was a terrific building in its day, but it was falling apart, and they talked about tearing it down and building apartments. Of course, its right next to the county courthouse and prison. :)”

“We was in Houtin cuz that is wher Miss Shunshines hous is.”

“Found a neat satellite photo of the Great Lakes, when the Big Lake was almost completely frozen.

http://pasty.com/discuss/messages/1779/1948.html#PN”

“Cool!”

“very nice!”

“Now thats a cool picture!

8)”

“you all scrolled down a bit, right?”

“Ya I saw the lake pic!

8)”

“It's starting to melt a little around the edges ...
I saw some guys out fishing on Superior yesterday.
dawn”

“We had Greek Games at a state park on Superior in April....there was always still ice on the lake at that time, although it was a little ways off shore. So beautiful, though.”

“That was a lot of ice!”

“How 'bout some ice flows today?

http://pasty.com/discuss/messages/1779/1962.html#PN”

“Okay, I'm trying to picture this without Cheating and looking at the satellite photo.... <G>

So.... it starts freezing from the edges toward the middle, then it starts melting at the edges. So now you have a giant ice doughnut out in the lake?”