Goofy dang weather

[Roberta]

Three days before Christmas, we got between 18" - 23" of snow in the area. That covered up what ice we had forming, so the -10 low we had Christmas morning didn't do us much good in the ice department.
Then in the middle of last week, it got unseasonably warm. All the snow is gone, including the 9 foot high pile we had back by our garage (my daffodils are even emerging). That got the flooding started. When we checked Acton Lake on Saturday, the loop road was closed at Four Mile Creek, the ramps were under water and the tailwaters were as high as we've seen them. There was still ice, but it was rotten and covered with a couple of inches of water.
Now last night, I wake up at 3a.m. to thunder and lightning - on January 3rd!! We've gotten 1.75 inches of rain since last night.
I wonder what this does to fish. This warm spell has no end in sight and the heavy rain is expected to continue. - Roberta

[Moose1am]

This weather is indeed wierd but man I am enjoying this 65 deg weather in the first week of Jan 2005. Bring on the sunshine and to heck with Global Warming. Now I won't have to move to Florida to stay warm and be by the ocean. The warm air and the oceans may just come to me in IN. LOL

Actually I wanted to say that your pointing out the fact that the ice can't form because of the thick snow cover is proof that snow is a good insulator.


Ice also can insulate and prevent further cold from reaching something.


Remember when we were talking about putting water in the freezer bags to help freeze the crappie filets? Well that water is acting as insulation between the cold air inside the deep freeze and the fish's flesh. The fish filets may not be frozen as well as they could be because the water in the bag turns to ice and insulates the fish from the cold air inside the freezer. Instead of being frozen at 0 deg F the fish may only get down to around 32 deg F and that is not cold enough. Without the ice inbetween the fish and the cold air the filets will get much colder. Maybe the water will prevent freezer burn of the filets though.

I came home last night as saw piles of snow still left along the side of the highway. We had over 23" of snow here last week and had 19.3" fall in a 24 hour period then followed up by another 4" after that to total up to 23" of snow on the ground. It's been over 60 deg for the last few days and we have had rain to boot. I estimate that some snow piles in the parking lots were over 20ft high and now they are melting but still here. By today they should all be melted as it's getting up to 65 deg F here.

As for the fish I suspect that they will take advantage of this warm spell and head into the warmer waters to feed on any new life that emerges from the muck.

Three days before Christmas, we got between 18" - 23" of snow in the area. That covered up what ice we had forming, so the -10 low we had Christmas morning didn't do us much good in the ice department.
Then in the middle of last week, it got unseasonably warm. All the snow is gone, including the 9 foot high pile we had back by our garage (my daffodils are even emerging). That got the flooding started. When we checked Acton Lake on Saturday, the loop road was closed at Four Mile Creek, the ramps were under water and the tailwaters were as high as we've seen them. There was still ice, but it was rotten and covered with a couple of inches of water.
Now last night, I wake up at 3a.m. to thunder and lightning - on January 3rd!! We've gotten 1.75 inches of rain since last night.
I wonder what this does to fish. This warm spell has no end in sight and the heavy rain is expected to continue. - Roberta

[Roberta]

The problem with unseasonabley warm weather is that it:
1) triggers out of season plant growth (note my earlier mention of emerging daffodils), which is certain to get killed by a later freeze. Bud swell in fruit trees is generally triggered by sunlight, but a prolonged warm spell can do the same, spelling doom to the new year's crop

2) allows a larger than normal number of insects to survive the winter. That's okay when it comes to mantids and other beneficials, but an organic gardener like me really doesn't want to see higher numbers of destructive pests.

The water in the bag of frozen filets does indeed protect against freezer burn.

The fish probably are taking advantage of the food being washed into the lakes as you noted, Moose. I am a little concerned about how many are getting swept over the spillway. We may have to trudge down the creekbed this spring and see what's in those deep pools below the dam. - Roberta

[crap-king]

kind of hard for you guys to ice fish when its 70 degrees outside - here in Carolina it is 72 today and callinf for 75 tommorrow

[blufloyd]

Well the ice is scheduled to fall from the sky here tomorrow night. Hope its not much as no power and no icefishing don't set well together here in Illinois.

[PGottshall]

Blu,

You're everywhere! I'll be on e by the weekend. . .

Paul

[Jerry Blake]

This weather is indeed wierd but man I am enjoying this 65 deg weather in the first week of Jan 2005. Bring on the sunshine and to heck with Global Warming. Now I won't have to move to Florida to stay warm and be by the ocean. The warm air and the oceans may just come to me in IN. LOL

Actually I wanted to say that your pointing out the fact that the ice can't form because of the thick snow cover is proof that snow is a good insulator.


Ice also can insulate and prevent further cold from reaching something.


Remember when we were talking about putting water in the freezer bags to help freeze the crappie filets? Well that water is acting as insulation between the cold air inside the deep freeze and the fish's flesh. The fish filets may not be frozen as well as they could be because the water in the bag turns to ice and insulates the fish from the cold air inside the freezer. Instead of being frozen at 0 deg F the fish may only get down to around 32 deg F and that is not cold enough. Without the ice inbetween the fish and the cold air the filets will get much colder. Maybe the water will prevent freezer burn of the filets though.

I came home last night as saw piles of snow still left along the side of the highway. We had over 23" of snow here last week and had 19.3" fall in a 24 hour period then followed up by another 4" after that to total up to 23" of snow on the ground. It's been over 60 deg for the last few days and we have had rain to boot. I estimate that some snow piles in the parking lots were over 20ft high and now they are melting but still here. By today they should all be melted as it's getting up to 65 deg F here.

As for the fish I suspect that they will take advantage of this warm spell and head into the warmer waters to feed on any new life that emerges from the muck.

Hey Moose:

Actually it is the air in the snow that makes it an insulator - not the water. Water conducts heat or cold 20 times better than air. That's why 65 degree air feels pretty comfortable but 65 degree water is quite chilly.

[Moose1am]

Hey Jerry:
Yes the air is the insulator but remember that ice in the freezer is not always crystal clear and often it's a white color. That is because of the air inside the ice crystals. I think that snow is a better insulator as you suggest.

I have not tried putting water in my filets mostly because it's faster to just squeeze the air out of the zip loc baggie and stick them in the freezer.

I like the way that Tom Cane Pole does his filets. He lays them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or something and freezes them in layers. Then after they are frozen he puts them inside a bag and sticks them back in the freezer. If you ever get a chance to meet and visit with Cane Pole I am sure he would show you his setup at the summer home on the lake. He has a huge area right as you come in the side door which had lots of flat surface area devoted to processing his crappie filets. Maybe Cane Pole could take a digital picture of that area and show us online.

Air works great as an insulation. That is why I want to get some waterproof insulated fishing outfit that has Thinsulate Ultra Insulation in it. That insulation does not soak up any water and the spaces between the plastic fibers holds a lot of air for insulation purposes.

Hey Moose:

Actually it is the air in the snow that makes it an insulator - not the water. Water conducts heat or cold 20 times better than air. That's why 65 degree air feels pretty comfortable but 65 degree water is quite chilly.

[Moose1am]

I hear you on the fooling the plants thing.

It seems like the dafadils in my yard emerge from the ground earlier each year. In fact I was reading about this somewhere not too long ago. Some gardeners keep track of when certain flowers bloom each year and according to their records there are some flowers that are blooming an average of one week earlier these days. Maybe it was two weeks I can't remember. The point is that they are being fooled into blooming earlier than in the past.

You live a lot further North that I do and I suspect that your winters get colder than it does here. I am at least 200 miles further south from Northern Ohio. Not far enough south though. I could get to like the warmer weather that is offered up by mother nature down in Florida.

As for the insects well that is not a good thing. We had some really cold weather but we also had a 2ft thick layer of snow over the ground. I suspect that the insects didn't have to dig too deep to find warmer soil. But I feel sorry for those deep ones today as all that snow melt and the rains that we have surely have drowned those little buggers.


You would be surprised at how far up and down a small stream the crappie can travel. The pits that I fish are feed by a stream that is not very deep most of the year. Maybe only about a foot deep or so in spots. But the ditch is over 30ft deep in some areas and when the River Floods that area is a pathway to the pits that I fish. So I get the benefit of good genes from the River Fish but I don't get all the Pollution that would be found in the Ohio River. The water in the pits is hopefully not as polluted as the Ohio River.

I would say that it's a good 10 to 15 miles from the River to the Pits via the Pigeon Creek and BlueGrass Creek pathways. We have to have pretty high water to get the River water into those pits. Most of the pits are filled with Rain water and runoff from the land that surrounds the pits.

The problem with unseasonabley warm weather is that it:
1) triggers out of season plant growth (note my earlier mention of emerging daffodils), which is certain to get killed by a later freeze. Bud swell in fruit trees is generally triggered by sunlight, but a prolonged warm spell can do the same, spelling doom to the new year's crop

2) allows a larger than normal number of insects to survive the winter. That's okay when it comes to mantids and other beneficials, but an organic gardener like me really doesn't want to see higher numbers of destructive pests.

The water in the bag of frozen filets does indeed protect against freezer burn.

The fish probably are taking advantage of the food being washed into the lakes as you noted, Moose. I am a little concerned about how many are getting swept over the spillway. We may have to trudge down the creekbed this spring and see what's in those deep pools below the dam. - Roberta

[Moose1am]

I don't like Ice Storms. To me they are by far worse than a snowstorm in the short run. The ice can form on the power lines and bring them down. It forms on the trees and make the branches hang down. I have some maple trees at my parents house that have branches that are permenantly stretched and still hanging down from a bad ice storm that we had over the last 10 years.

Living in the Ohio River Valley we are right in the middle where the rain can turn to snow or ice easily.

I thought about getting a portable power generator for the house a few years ago.

Well the ice is scheduled to fall from the sky here tomorrow night. Hope its not much as no power and no icefishing don't set well together here in Illinois.