THE ICE MAN COMETH...
- terryswails1
- Feb 22
- 5 min read
86% THERE, JUST A LITTLE MORE HELP
MY FUNDRAISER CONTINUES....
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ICE, ICE BABY......
I'm no spring chicken, but I'm "not" old enough to remember a time when I couldn't go to the fridge and get myself some ice cubes. Just imagine a day when it was a precious commodity that had to be harvested and stored in the hopes there would be a sufficient supply to get through the summer.
While ice harvesting was a very profitable business in the early 1900s, it was also risky. In addition to the potential for serious physical danger to ice-makers, there was the chance that not enough ice would be stored to meet the summer demand—or that a warm winter might produce a limited supply.
As a rule, ice-cutting in the Midwest took place in January through the early part of March. When ice was thick enough for operations to begin (around 16 inches thick) it was scraped, if covered with snow, and, if rough and wavy on the surface, it occasionally was planed.
When the snow had been removed, the field was "prospected" for the best point to begin cutting. Holes were bored, and a measuring rod was inserted to test the thickness. The rod was marked in inches and the lower end was turned off at a right angle to act like a hook on to the bottom of the ice. The bigger the cake, the longer it would last, so it paid to cut the thickest ice possible.
On rivers, the cakes were cut in the field above the ice-house, in order to gain the help of the stream in floating the detached ice down to the house. The further away from the house the cutting took place, the more time, labor, and money was needed to harvest the crop. Late in the season, ice harvesting continued into the night, with light produced by torches and bonfires.
All along the channel, men were stationed with pike poles to keep the "floats" moving towards the chute. At the river end of the chute, men used steel bars called "spuds" to break the "floats" into individual cakes each 22 by 28 inches. A typical cake might weigh up to 400 pounds. A water wheel at the end of the chute caught each cake and sent it up the chute to the ice house. It was cold, demanding work, and the harvest continued until conditions became unsafe to be on the ice field. The only other stoppages, were equipment failures or when temperatures fell to dangerously cold levels below zero.
Once inside the ice house, men moved the cakes into neat, orderly rows until all available space was used. All ice cakes which appeared defective were pushed off the conveyor onto to the ground, where they melted. The ice was packed in sawdust and covered with straw, which insulated it and helped prevent melting. Later, it was sold to residents, where it was used to preserve food and cool drinks.
Delivery was made to homes and businesses, that displayed an "ice today" card in the window. Often times in hot weather, children would follow the ice cart around town in the hopes of securing a chip that had fallen to the ground.
Modern day refrigeration techniques became available in the early 1900s. By the 1930s, the widespread availability of electric refrigerators greatly reduced the need for the ice industry, and it quickly declined. In time, no longer did people cut ice from the lakes and rivers of the Midwest.
The next time you fill up a glass, take a good long look at one of those slippery cubes. There was a time when they were good as gold. Today, only a few old-timers remember the reverence paid to ice. Amen.
LITTLE TO NONE...
If you are wondering why the ice story, take a look at this graphic for the weekend weather issued by the NWS in the Quad Cities. It's the impact level for this weekend's weather, and it says it all (LITTLE TO NONE). Aside from a slight fog potential from expected snowmelt, we are in the doldrums for a while.
Dull or not, that is good news if you like your weather mild. It appears that we will run the table with above normal highs the remainder of the month into early March. The meteograms of the EURO and GFS are blossoming with spring, showing a 2-week stretch of friendly temperatures, especially after what we just went through.
The EURO
The GFS is really toasty, showing several highs in the 50s with a lot of 40s.
Today's data has backed down on the negative EPO both the EURO and GFS were indicating yesterday in March. That keeps ridging at a minimal over the west and delivers a fairly zonal flow. That does not seed the pattern with Polar or Arctic air, hence the mild readings shown. In fact, by March 3rd, the flow is split, with the northern branch cutting across Canada and the (southern branch) with its moisture, digging into the SW. That allows ridging over the central U.S. That should keep our weather nice and tidy through early March.
These are the temperature anomalies the evening of March 3rd. A nice conduit of warmth exists through central North America.
Not only is this a mild set-up, it does not have much precipitation potential through March 2nd. In fact, the GFS shows no measurable precipitation for the next 9–10 days, with clippers remaining further north.
Most of the country is twiddling their thumbs watching storms and precipitation of minimal consequence. Rainfall departures look like this through March 1st.
I'm of the mind set that around March 3rd or 4th, the pattern should become more active, and it would not surprise me after that to see some cold air making inroads across the Midwest. Whatever, that's a long way off, and today we see the start of our warming trend that will eat up snow cover the next few days and most likely bring 50 degree highs to at least my southern counties. A well deserved break. Roll weather, and if you can spare a donation, I will see to it that it's money well spent....TS
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