2 PM December 17; Axe, ice picks, floatation jacket, spikey boots, off for a walk. The 2 inch ice before the storm is now 5 inches with 6 inches of wind packed dry snow on top. 10 feet from a brown patch there is slush at the bottom of the snow. The brown patch is 2-3 inches of punky frozen slush over 4-5 inches of black ice. The ice has grown under the high “R Value” snow. Probably the smokey vapor seen this AM is moist damp air given off by the heat of fusion released by the freezing slush.

Iceman