The Great Lakes just set a record for lack of ice

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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The water bowl in my parents' extravagant bird feeder froze over the other day.

I went round to help move a cabinet and when I was in the garden having a cup of tea I spotted it. I had to tell them because the birds couldn't get a drink from it because it was just ice.
 

Danbones

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Sep 23, 2015
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Hey man, we have ducks and gulls.
:)
guess where they like to eat.
 

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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You parent 's bird feeder equates to the Great Lakes?

Yeah. Frozen water.

My mum bought it for my dad last Christmas as a present. It's like a tall metal hatstand but with a spike at the bottom to stick into lawn. On various levels it has bowls, some with nuts in and some with sunflower seeds or whatever and one with water. And when I went round on Monday the water was frozen over.
 

Jinentonix

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Olympus Mons
Some of 'em are pretty funny. A few are just tedious.

I heard back in the 50s and 60s in the winter a body could drive across Lake Erie or Lake Ontario to (or from) Canada.
I think there was one year during that period it could have happened. But it would have likely been Lake Erie. Lake Ontario never froze over once during the last century. Lake Erie also froze over during the winter of 2013-2014.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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Vernon, B.C.
I think there was one year during that period it could have happened. But it would have likely been Lake Erie. Lake Ontario never froze over once during the last century. Lake Erie also froze over during the winter of 2013-2014.
Lake Erie is a much shallower lake so makes perfect sense.
 

Jinentonix

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Olympus Mons
Lake Erie is a much shallower lake so makes perfect sense.
Yeppers. The only two lakes that didn't freeze over at some point in the last century were Ontario and Michigan. Although IIRC Lake Ontario HAS frozen over 3-4 times since European settlement. But those would have been some friggin' cold-ass winters.
 

Jinentonix

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Olympus Mons
"The previous record low for this date was 5% back in 2002."

CNN is lying a wee bit there. The previous record low WAS in 2002 but the ice coverage was 9.5% not 5%.