Here you see a local pond with about an inch of clear blue (some say black) ice yesterday morning. Clarity and color are important, according to researchers. Clear blue ice is the strongest; it’s formed by pond or lake water freezing.
Cloudy white ice is weaker; it’s usually formed when snow on an ice surface melts and freezes. Gray ice is weaker than white ice and is formed by ice that is starting to break down. White-spotted gray ice is the weakest; it’s just about to disintegrate on its own.
The Maine Inland Fishery & Wildlife Department’s safety warnings are given in inches for pond or lake surface water that has frozen into clear blue ice: 2” is safe for one person to stand on; 3” for a group of people walking single file; 7.5” for a two-ton automobile; 8” for a 2 ½-ton truck; 10” for a 3 ½-ton truck.
Other sources say that anything less than four inches of clear ice is unsafe to ice skate on and that ice on rivers and other moving waters should be approached with extreme caution. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December5, 2021.)