Temps and Ice..

[The Yeti]

with temps in the teens during the day and down into minuses at night, how much ice can form on a nightly basis? I heard up to 1 inch a night..

[bassNspear]

that could be true, but its all going to depend on if its a full moon, windy, or snow.

I would have to say that you can go anywhere from a 1/2 to 1 1/2

[Deitz Dittrich]

It can make an inch of ice pretty easy with temps around 0 or slightly above.. But only for the first few inches.. once you get past about 5 inches it makes it slower.

[eyehunter]

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that could be true, but its all going to depend on if its a full moon, windy, or snow.

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Just curious, but what does a full moon have to do with it??

[EBass]

I too am wondering about the full moon and ice building theroy.

[EJ]

I'm guessing it is indirectly related because of the cooler and usually calmer nights associated with no cloud cover.

EJ

[Hardwaterjigin]

I'm just taking a shot in the dark but if the moon controls tide and the to some extent barometric pressure maybe it is related somehow within those parameters.

[bassNspear]

what i ment is full moon out, clear skies, no bad weather.

[Squirtis]

Radiation makes a huge difference. If it is a full moon, the radiant heat can slow the ice formation. If there is no moon, and clear sky, the ice will form faster. Cloudy skies, the ice will form very slowly.

[Dances with Walleye]

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what i ment is full moon out, clear skies, no bad weather.

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To clarify...

I think what you're trying to say is:

When we have a clear sky heat escapes more readily and allows us to get down to colder and colder temps... Cloud cover holds heat closer to the surface of the earth and makes deep cold harder to achieve as the clouds act like an insulative barrier at night.

The moon itself has no bearing on making ice...

But if you can see the full moon it means that you have clear skies etc...

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Also another massive factor not mentioned so far is the depth and size of the lake is one of the prime factors of how fast it will freeze, because deeper water acts like a massive heat sink, allowing heat to conduct (At a rate 25 times faster than air) from the depth into the shallows.

It's part of the reason why the shore line (Farthest from the heat sink of the main basin) is first to freeze, while the middle of main basin is always the last to freeze...

In the spring the shore line becomes a heat sink, and the lake melts in the exact reverse order that it froze in.