[Mr Fixit]

Imagine one night you go to sleep knowing the big body of water outside your backyard will cede its frozen grip and let loose, allowing all sorts of flying critters to land, swim, and eat at your enjoyment as you welcome the beginnings of Spring. Now go back to bed and get up to another deary day with rain forecast and highs upper 30s to low 40s, all that open water just did a turnaround in a matter of a few short hours, the ice that was floating around "out there" in now piling up in your back yard. Hear are a few pics I took not long ago of my neighbors backyard area. This stuff was not there at 9:00 am this morning, I noticed it about 12:30 this afternoon and I guarantee it will continue for some time before going away. First two are from my 2nd floor window, #3 inside the Jeep at point blank, 4 zoomed in & 5 as viewed from her driveway, I've included a aerial of the neighbors house, judging from the pics I'd say the ice has done quite the moving job today!! Mr fixit

 

[Mr Fixit]

the neighbors house, as you can guess things would have me a bit on edge! From the edge of the grass by the lake to the nearest tree is about 45 feet, so add in another 10'-15' of shore and 6 to 10 feet in height .....that's a lotta ice coolers there!!

 

[papajohn]

I recently saw a video of lake ice creeping toward a lakefront building at about two inches a minutes, which doesn't sound like much, unless it's YOUR house in the way of the million-pound glacier. There was a steady groaning, crackling sound as it moved forward, pretty much destroying anything in it's path.......bushes, small trees, lawn furniture, even foundations were wrecked as tons of ice pushed in off the lake. I was a weather watcher/storm chaser for a couple years, and I have a lot of experience with the forces of nature, but this was REALLY impressive.

 

[Macoz]

Diverse world we live in. I've spent most of the day inside,we've had a cyclone,(hurricane),only category 1 with 8inches of rain in 6 hours. Late in the season but we need the rain. Should bring out the pigs for a few days,I will carry the 336 when I go for a look around the properties tomorrow.

 

[Mr Fixit]

took a few more shots and was even so brave as to scale to the top of the shove for a better view! Talk about a treacherous climb!!

#1 ground level about 30' away, #2 about 2/3rds up looking north, #3 on top looking back and down, #4 is the neighbors back yard, some where in there is a tree that's engulfed in ice! It was quite an experience, made the local news too and the neighbor says it has never come that close to the house since she has lived there, that I can only assume has been awhile since she is a fixture in the neighborhood. Mr fixit

 

[ditto1958]

Ah... there's no place like home...

Not!

Used to live about 10-15 minutes from northern tip of Winnebago. It's in many ways a very interesting lake. I sure don't miss those winters, though.

 

[Gallo Pazzesco]

That is incredible! Thanks for sharing! I would never have realized anything like that was happening anywhere otherwise - and that is very cool!

 

[AZsparrow]

Wow... that's some scary stuff.

 

[Ha Dingus]

Wow... that's some scary stuff.

Scarier still - what if FEMA figures out there's another form of hazard to insure.

 

[HDStreet]

For us Texas boys... What causes that? Rough water throwing the ice chunks up on the shore? That could be some large and dangerous white caps!

 

[Mr Fixit]

This time of the year, the lake opens up just like any other iced over body of water, so out there is floating masses of broken up ice, considering the lake has a max depth of 21 feet deep and is 30 miles long by 10 miles wide it doesn't take a lot of wind to start moving the ice as in Saturday when the pics where taken. Winds were pretty strong out of the east, of course all that ice gets pushed to the west and just keep piling up. Included a couple links for you to check out. I've never stood there to watch but have been told that a person could watch it grow in height at a rate of 6 inches a minute! That shove I posted took a few hours to go an estimated 15-20 feet high. During the summer it is not a good thing to be out there with an approaching storm, white caps and dangerous conditions occur faster than a boater could react and get to safety. A minimum boat would be a 16 foot deep v hull to enjoy the lake anything less could kill you. Hope this answers some of your questions and thanks for the interest! Mr fixit

Some background about Lake Winnebago here: Lake Winnebago - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ice shove - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VIDEO: Ice Shoves Pile Up Along Lake Winnebago - WNCT

 

[HDStreet]

That's incredible, but I can see how it could happen. And I thought the dust storms out here sucked! Thanks for the educational posts!

 

[McyNHMarlin]

Wow, I think it would be kind of fun to watch, but not that much fun to deal with if it was my property!

 

[swany]

Here I thought hail stones were scary. Them big ones coming in sideways are way spookier.

 

[Catherine]

Nice pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Cate

 

[ole single shooter]

This happens in this area along the rivers at ice breakup every few years. Most damage is caused by building in the path of the problem. Building on windward shore of a big lake or on a thread of barrier sand on the edge of an ocean is just inviting huge problems. It is sad to see anyone have property damaged but there is a price to pay for living in these hi risk areas.