Arctic Air Helps Ice Fishing Linger for Some

Courtesy IEM linked to the right.

If you've been missing the snow and cold, you're not alone! Here's a quick map of the average winter snowfall in Iowa.

So far Des Moines has only seen about 10 inches with about half of that falling last weekend. We have also seen our warmest winter ever (Des Moines has yet to go below zero). Some locations in central Iowa had marginally safe ice thicknesses before the storm, but our new snow has actually weakened the ice in a lot of locations south of highway 30 making conditions very dangerous. Here's how it works.

Suppose a lake has 5inches of ice and then it snows a few inches on top. Snow is actually a very good insulator shielding the ice from bitter cold temps while allowing the lake water beneath the ice to melt away the bottom layer making it thinner. Clear ice is the safest and strongest ice, meanwhile a layer of snowy/slushy white ice is the weakest and not very safe at all. The Iowa DNR is not recommending folks go ice fishing in central and southern Iowa. Click here for more info.

Here's a map I made of the general ice conditions the first week of February.

Satellite view of Iowa 2-6-12

Around central Iowa, it's probably safest to pack up the ice fishing gear for the season. If you're not ready to quit just yet, take a trip to northeast Iowa. Ice thicknesses are generally safer and surges of bitter cold arctic air will lead to some great ice-making cold nights for the next week or two. Thicknesses should maintain for the next week or so, and in far NE IA they might last into March. 

If you absolutely can't resist the dwindling hard-water this season, stay away from areas of the lake that have open water, snow drifts or even white ice, take a safety rope and travel with a buddy. Use common sense!

Stay safe and good luck!