Updates
Later, 1:24 p.m. Central Time: see first note. Do not go out on the "frozen" lake. The ice is inconsistently thick. Do not attempt to ice fish.
Original Post
How cold does it get in Montana?
This is actually from a few days ago, maybe a week ago, but I'm just now getting around to it, cleaning out my in-box.
About a week my sister's family -- the one from Portland, OR -- drove out to Flathead Lake (Montana, west side of the Rockies) for spring break.
They told me the lake had frozen over. I had never heard that happening before so I asked my sister to talk to the locals out there and hear what they had to say about the lake being frozen.
It turns out -- the lake doesn't freeze. Well, not until this year. LOL.
From NBC-Montana:
POLSON, Mont. — Jim Craft saw something special at work Thursday -- something he hadn’t seen in decades.
“I was tracking it here in Yellow Bay, watching the bay freeze out,” Craft, a research scientist at Flathead Lake Biological Station, said. “I was watching the shorelines freeze out, then when you start seeing the ice out in the middle of the lake, you know it’s something special.”
“ Flathead Lake almost completely froze over on Thursday. Scientists say it’s the most ice they’ve seen on the lake in at least 25 years. According to Flathead Lake Biological Station data, 90 percent of Flathead Lake froze in March 1993.
Unlike most lakes in Montana, Flathead is so big, with constant strong current, even frozen over it is not safe to be on. Officials were advising to NOT try ice fishing on the lake.
ReplyDeleteIce thickness is not consistent, even within a matter of feet.
Thank you for the warning. Yes, I was very, very aware of the flowing nature of the lake and that's what caught me by surprise that it had frozen over.
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