What does snow cover have to do with ice thickness?
Did you know that the depth of the snow affects how thick the ice will get on a lake or river? Do you know why? When the water in rivers and lakes is directly exposed to the freezing cold air, it freezes. However, once the snow starts landing on the new ice, the snow acts like a blanket and insulates the ice from the cold air. If it is blanketed by snow, the ice won’t thicken as quickly. And the deeper the snow, the slower the new ice forms. For example, in winter in the NWT, about 30-40 centimetres of snow piles up on the lakes close to the town of Inuvik. The average ice thickness on these lakes is about one metre. To the north of Inuvik, only 10-20 centimetres of snow piles up on the lakes near the Arctic coastline because the coastal winds keep blowing the snow inland. On these coastal lakes, the ice is twice as thick as the ones close to Inuvik that are covered by more snow! So more snow means thinner ice! If the north is going to get more precipitation – more snow – in the winter
