NH Fish and Game urges people to assess ice safety before venturing out

The ice at White Park in Concord is clearly not safe – and is marked as such. But when ice thickness is unknown, an assessment is necessary. (Dana Wormald | New Hampshire Bulletin)

Because of this winter's unpredictable and fluctuating temperatures, New Hampshire Fish and Game officials are urging people to exercise caution when near ice.

"With erratic weather conditions, some areas of ice may look safe, but may not be," Col. Kevin Jordan, chief of Fish and Game's Law Enforcement Division, said in a statement. "As always, we are urging people to check the ice thickness before going out onto any frozen waterbody."

Ice conditions are becoming less safe as New Hampshire winters trend warmer and temperatures more variable.

Fish and Game officials encourage people on foot to carefully assess ice safety before venturing out, by using an ice chisel or auger to determine ice thickness and composition. Officials caution that thickness is not uniform over an entire body of water, and snow-covered ice can be deceiving.

There should be a minimum of 6 inches of hard ice before foot use and 8 to 10 inches for snow machines or off-highway recreational vehicles, according to the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover.

New Hampshire Fish and Game offers the following safety tips:

by Hadley Barndollar, New Hampshire Bulletin February 17, 2023

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Hadley Barndollar covers climate, energy, environment, and the opioid crisis for the New Hampshire Bulletin. Previously, she was the New England regional reporter for the USA TODAY Network and was named Reporter of the Year by the New England Newspaper and Press Association.