Ice Thickness

Cold temperatures all across the west are freezing lakes and soon, if not already, ice fishers will be scouring the lakes ice fishing and skating with friends and family. Something to keep in mind as temperatures have been fluctuating over the past few weeks, is ice safety. Here's a nice reminder about what you can safely do on different thickness levels of ice.

"Ok, we want to talk about ice thickness and what is a permissible load based on the type of ice that we're going to be venturing out on. I have here a chart that is put out by Farmer's Almanac. 3" thickness of lake ice, clear, blue, or black means a single person can go on foot. 4" thickness of clear black lake ice, is a group in single file. 7 ½" you can actually put a 2 ton gross passenger car, 8" you can put a light truck 2 ½ ton gross. 10" you can put a medium truck, 3 ½ ton gross. 12" you can put a full size heavy truck with an 8 ton gross. When you get up to 36" you can put 110 tons, enough to land an F16."

Remember, when it comes to ice thickness, "when in doubt, don't try it out". One of winter's most common outdoor incidents, comes from hypothermia. If you plan on being out on the ice this winter, don't forget your ice hooks.