Effect of snow insulating factor.

[WYIfish]

Dear list;
If there is half a foot of good clear ice and  the night time lows are 10 degrees, and the daytime highs are 35 degrees and it snows 6 inches of medium  weight powder, how much of a factor of  "insulation" effect would the snow have on the ability to make more ice?  Too much time on my hands.

[bobberbill]

6" of snow is a pretty good blanket. It will preserve the ice. No effect on the ice.

[flagup!]

Depends on your height above sea level.?  or is that just for boiling water 

[PoleJerker]

Thought this site was for    not scientific stuff.

[MichiganMan]

Very very little change if any in ice thickness.

[Mountain Maggot]

Ice forms when there is a low enough temperature in water column.  Ice forms from the bottom and not from the top therefore other than insulation, the ice from melting, snow will not inhibit further ice formation as the water temperature that formed the ice will not warm up or be colder wth a cover of snow.

Now if the snow weight is heavy enough to push down the ice due to thin ice followed by heavy snows, then fractures can developing the ice..  When this occurs, water will seep on to the contact of the ice and snow and cause slush.  Of course, this can also be caused by a changing or accelerating discharge rate of the water body or the melting of snow.  These three examples are how ice can form atop the original ice cap.

Many folks who find slush beneath a snow cover assume that the ice is melting or not continuing to form.  This is not true as ice accumulates beneath the ice cap and will continue to grow in thickness unless the snow weight breaks the ice or warm weather melts the snow and ice.

🎣🕳

[fishermantim]

One other thing to consider (damn, you got me thinking science stuff) is what the body of water consist of and how deep it is.
If the pond has excessive vegetation die-off, the decomposition can create a fish kill environment, and could also increase the water temps due to the decomposition process.

I'd be more concerned about fish kills more so, because the effect is more devastating to the body of water.

[desmobob]

Dear list;
If there is half a foot of good clear ice and  the night time lows are 10 degrees, and the daytime highs are 35 degrees and it snows 6 inches of medium  weight powder, how much of a factor of  "insulation" effect would the snow have on the ability to make more ice?  Too much time on my hands.

Here you go:  http://lakeice.squarespace.com

Tight lines,
Bob

[WYIfish]

Depends on your height above sea level.?  or is that just for boiling water 

How about 6,335 feet up. In a body of a resivour  that freezes the top end of 30 miles by 1/2 to 1 mile wide and with current.............ju st completely erased the science factor. I suppose there are many more issues than the snow factor, thank you.

[buuddy]

Not only is the snow a hindrance to new ice formation, the ice that's there will also affect how new ice forms.
It's generally regarded that snow has an insulation value of R1 per inch and the ice has an R.75(3/4) per inch.

[Kobey]

OW!  My head hurts.  What about the ice in Canada, does it depend on the exchange rate?

[1moslab]

Snow slows down ice accumulation were I live

[eriksat1]

A lot of times the weight of the snow will force water up through cracks making a slush layer on top of the ice under the snow. Then when the slush freezes you have instant thicker ice. Sometimes it happens several times through out the winter here and we end up with very thick ice. Only the bottom ice will be clear ice, but frozen slush is still ice.

[WYIfish]

Not only is the snow a hindrance to new ice formation, the ice that's there will also affect how new ice forms.
It's generally regarded that snow has an insulation value of R1 per inch and the ice has an R.75(3/4) per inch.

So who says science isn't cool?