Will ice be safe?

[bluegill63]

Hi guys as you know we have had them darn warm tempatures here lately in  Illinois. What I want to know the lakes I fish had some skim ice on it but now with all this snow we are about to get today. Will the ice freeze real good and be safe with the snow sitting on top of it. If you have any warning signs on this subject please relay them to all of us. Thanks.
 

[GEM_EYE_GUY]

I've posted this before, but it probably bears repeating here.

Two absolute rules for differentiating safe ice from questionable ice:

Any ice which you just got off of without going through WAS safe ice.

Any ice which you are currently on IS questionable ice.

[sunup]

Snow is an insulator.  The ice will take much longer to firm up. You will probably get a lot of slush on top too.  I would stay off for a while, and be very cautious  about going on when the cold weather does get there.

[whitey]

invest in a spud for these occasions. remember to get one with a strap for your wrist though, or you might lose it checking the ice.

[Iceman Cometh]

Ok here' my question- went out today here in central il. to check the lakes(the lakes were still open, absolutely no ice!), and though we had 2" of snow the night before, and now negative temps the next two days, wil the ice still freeze like a slush like you said or will it be clear,strong ice? It'll be like first Ice won't iT? No ice formed during the snowfall, so how can it be slushy? I've read articles on ice forming during a snowfall and how it "tilts" the crystals to make it weaker, but since this didn't happen, won't the crystals form more horizontally, i.e. more strength, which is a characteristic I'm told of first Ice?