Observation Points and Viewing Areas
Examples of observation points and viewing areas
Examples of Ice Coverage
Ice-on occurs when ice completely covers the lake, bay or river.
Ice-on looks like this:
Ice-off occurs when ice completely disappears from the lake or river, or, if monitoring a bay connected to a larger lake, when the ice from the fully frozen bay detaches from the shore and goes out into the open lake.
Ice-off looks like this:
Remember, during the freeze-up period at the start of the winter the water body may freeze completely across, thaw, and re-freeze again multiple times before it remains continuously frozen for the remainder of the winter. If this occurs on the water body you are monitoring, please record the date of the first complete freeze-over and the date when the water body freezes across and stays frozen for the rest of the winter. Similarly, the ice may thaw and refreeze multiple times at the end of winter. In that case, record the date of the first complete disappearance of the ice and the date when the ice finally disappears for good.