Ice-out declared on Lake Winnipesaukee

GILFORD — Summer is right around the corner.

Dave Emerson of Emerson Aviation called ice-out just after 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, after completing an aerial survey of ice conditions on the Big Lake. 

Ice-out refers to winter conditions on the lake breaking, allowing the M/S Mount Washington to navigate between all its ports of call. Similarly, ice-in is declared when the Mount’s ports of call are covered in ice, which occurred Jan. 13 this year.

“The Mount Washington can now make its route to all five ports of call,” Emerson said Wednesday morning. 

East Alton near the Roberts Cove area, Brickyard Cove and around the Varney Islands were just about the last with ice hanging on. Weather conditions over recent days depleted the lake’s cover of ice to near-zero.

“The wind took it all out,” Emerson said. “The wind does the most damage to the ice once it starts opening up.”

Emerson conducts aerial surveys most every day when ice-out conditions are approaching, looking for signs of changing ice coverage. When ice starts looking gray from above, he knows it's becoming porous and won’t last long. 

He also considers weather conditions. 

“The rain does help,” he said. “It erodes it from the top as well as the water temperature down below.”

Wind does the most damage to the ice, though. 

This year’s ice-out occurred about one month later than last year, which Emerson called on March 17. That was the earliest call on record. 

“Bring on summer,” Emerson wrote on Facebook.