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Ice Predicting Application Idea – Looking for Input
I don’t know about you guys, but I check the weather pretty much every single day in the winter, hoping the ice will get thick enough (I’m all the way down in Maryland đ ). I’m assuming a lot of you are familiar with the “Freezing Degree Days” (FDDs) formula, and that’s what I’ve been using to guess the thickness of the ice for the days ahead.
I was thinking that if I could even put something as simple as this formula in a website, it would be so much easier and more fun to predict the thickness of the ice. My idea is that you would plug in a location and the site would tell you how thick the ice is expected to be on each day for the next week based on weather data, as well as indicate which days the ice will be “safe.”
How do you currently predict when it’ll be worth going out and testing the ice? Could you see value in a site like this or are you content with your current method? I may or may not have already bought the domain ([skateorswim.com](https://skateorswim.com/)) and I would love to hear any thoughts or suggestions (positive or negative).
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1 Reply
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Cool idea in theory. But in reality if doesnât work. Iâve done the calculations before, and the thing you canât account for easily is snow cover⊠amazing how much that matters, and amazing how even on a snow free day a lake can freeze and form a layer of frost that stops ice growth.
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I would be scared of lawsuits in case the app wasnât accurate. That being said the DNR in my state publishes ice conditions but they are at your own risk, so maybe not.
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I used to run a Facebook page called “local ice report”. My lawyer told me on a casual conversation to stop doing it so I deleted the page.
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Ice Report
It exists, I use it
Apple and droid
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It can be very variable. Small elevations can make a big difference. I know a spot in a river bottom that freezes 2 weeks before any other spots.
Also wind and sun are big variables.
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There are so many variables like everyone suggests. In central MA I went once this year and had to go towards the top of the state. This year nothing froze close to home.
Generally if itâs a week below freezing I will go check my smaller ponds. When I say below its not by a significant amount as temps fluctuate a lot here.
Im not a lawyer but I would certainly not suggest saying anything in terms of safe. Or merely suggesting it. Those are huge liabilities.
