Snow Pack and Ice Weight Carrying Capacity?

[Blackhawkxp]

Does a heavy snowpack substantially weaken the ice? I assume it must add some stress but does the ice thickness guidelines still apply with heavy snow? Is there a chart for "x" inches of snow means you need "x" inches of ice to offset the weight? I realize there are alot of variables but wasn't sure what you guys go by.

[IcePro]

It will depend on the ice thickness to begin with.

I am more concerned with the weight of the snow and pushing down on the ice and forcing the water to come up thru the holes and flooding the lake.

Time to block the house up

[fishadb]

I don't worry about it unless there is water coming out of the holes.

[NoWiser]

I don't think snowpack has much of an effect on the ice strength at all. It's a pretty uniform load across the entire lake. The load on ice isn't like the load on the joist of your home, which is a span supported on two ends. The ice is completely supported by the water underneath it. About all the snow will do is push the ice down farther, causing water to come out holes, through cracks, etc....

Now, if you had one enormous pile of snow in a very small area, that could affect the strength, but I don't think when it is spread out over the entire lake it can make a noticeable difference.

[Blackhawkxp]

I was thinking more along the lines that say 15 -18" will support a full size vehicle. Now i have 15" of snow on top of the 15"-18" of ice can a guy assume it is still safe to drive the same full size vehicle or do you need additional ice thickness to offset extra weight of the snow? Almost like the snow would offset say 3" of ice thickness so you would only have 12"-15" with snow load vs 15"-18" without snow. Just curious if this is how it works or if i am riding the short bus again.

[Stick in Mud]

Not an expert by any means, but here's my guess: It might make a TINY difference in that regard, but the even distribution of the snow across a large-ish surface area (the area under your truck, for instance) means that the weight of the snow would be quite negligible compared to the weight of the truck. In terms of pounds per square foot, the snow won't add up to much when compared to a truck.

[ski_otter]

I'm with carmike

Maybe later in the year as the ice begins to deteriorate it would be a bigger deal. But as far as natural piles/drifts it shouldn't matter much.

Could be a different story if say a mall parking lot sized pile was put in one area