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Ice and snow lights on the Straits sea

18.01.2013 - 18:23 |  Looduskalender
Photos and invitation to skate trip by Bert Rähni, www.360.ee
Translation: Cax
 
 Searching for suitable ice for a skate trip is usually difficult and takes lots of time, because nothing is 100 % certain until the last moment. But if  a good ice is found, the thrill is guaranteed.
The skating ice has to be more or less smooth, almost snowless and sufficiently thick to carry a group of people. For this condition there are two options:
  • Young ice, which is yet without snow and has frozen smoohtly. It  forms on frosty and calm nights. But then a problem is usually, that the thickness of the ice might not be sufficient. Be careful!
  • ·Older ice, from where the snow has been thawed off by  rain, but the surface of the old ice isn’t smooth or suitable for ice skating. There might be a sleet on the ice, which freezes later. The western winds might raise the water level and water, mixing with snow makes rough, frozen mass of ice, but also a double surfaced ice, where  skates tend to get stuck.
The probability of formation of the unsuitable ice for skating is very big and the opposite possibility is very small. Usually the ice won’t be good for skating trip at all. Last Thursday we invited adventurous people to a skate trip to the Gulf of Haapsalu (city in the western coast of Estonia), because our ice reconnaissance reported of a suitable ice for skating, and best in northern Estonia. But at Saturday we discovered, that the ice conditions were a way better on the Straits sea (Väinameri, previous name Mohn strait), near the Cape Puise. There the second option for formation  of skating ice had been realized. About a month old, long ago covered with snow, the ice thawed clean in the rains in the beginning of January. Those who watch the weather more precisely, know for sure, that the freeze and snow came right after the rain. The sleet froze to ice and about half of the surface of the gulf ice remained snowfree.
After varied rains, snowfalls, thaws and freezes a large snowfree area remained on the Straits sea ice by some kind of miracle. It begins from near Virtsu as a narrow band and goes forward to the north, enlarging in the mouth of Matsalu gulf to an endless ice rink. That’s what we found out at Saturday.
On Saturday night we announced to all who had registered to an ice trip, that it will happen in the Strait sea, and the meeting place is Cape Puise, instead of Haapsalu. For those who followed our invitation, it was an unforgettable exciting experience. The endless field of ice, absolutely smooth  in some places, a little bit rough in some other places, advantageous wind, and the frozen chinks of ice and piles of ridged ice added more adventurousness.

See the video from January 13th:


 The next ice trip on the Straits sea will be is organized on Sunday, because yesterday there was a little snowfall in western Estonia. At the moment there is a slight snow cover on the ice, but it won’t trouble the skating and probably tomorrow it will whirl off with the wind.

http://www.360.ee/component/option,com_seminar/cid,339/sem_jidx,0/sem_midx,0/task,3/


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