Cisco Sonar

Ice?  2020
By Bryce Nielson

It is that time of year when people start thinking about when Bear Lake is going to freeze.  They see ice fishing reports from Utah and Idaho and are hot to get out on the ice in Bear Lake.  Ice fishing has been a big deal in Bear Lake for years.  It used to be concentrated along Cisco Beach and when that area is frozen dipping ciscos is easy.  Depending on ice formation, fishing on the Rockpile in front of Ideal Beach saw hundreds of ice fishermen and all the gear.  Those folks are ready to hit it again, so I will explain how Bear Lake freezes, if it does.

On typical years, Bear Lake starts to cool, releasing the heat it stored from the summer, in late November and early December.  At that time the lake condenses water from liquid to gas and the “Valley” fills up with fog.  It makes for a beautiful view from the Bear Lake Summit with the basin “full of cotton”.  Depending on many factors, primarily weather, this condition remains for a couple of weeks.  During this time, you may see rivers of clouds pouring out of North and South Eden canyons with the cold morning winds or lake effect snowstorms in Laketown. 

As the surface of the lake approaches 32o  F the fog begins to disappear.  If we have a high pressure and no wind the lake will begin to skim from the shore.  It will start over the shallow water in the north end and proceeded down the west side.  Ice will then freeze off Gus Rich Point and Rendezvous Beach.  As you drive around the lake it will appear that the whole body of water is frozen, but the east side and the middle deeper water will still be open.  As the cold continues, it all starts to freeze but there will be open water off of the Eden deltas due to the canyon winds.  At any time, a storm and wind can break up the lake but the time to refreeze is shortened because of the millions of ice cubes floating around.  For the lake to freeze totally overnight, the best scenario is a heavy snowstorm followed by sub-zero temperatures and dead calm.
 
This typically occurs in mid-January but may be as late as March.  I am only aware of the lake freezing totally in December one time in the past 60 years.  Long term averages indicate that that lake will freeze four out if five years, but that has changed recently.   It hasn’t completely frozen for at least four years.  As I have observed the changes in climate it is obvious that things are definitely warmer that in the past. How this will affect the Lake is an unknown.  A completely frozen lake four out of five years may be a thing of the past. 

The freeze data was annually collected by PacifiCorp, but I can’t find a complete set and my memory isn’t what it used to be.   If anyone has access to freeze data for Bear Lake, I would appreciate getting a copy.   Text me at 435-994-1649.