Starting tonight we are in for a much needed dump of the white stuff, anywhere from 3 to 5 inches -- possibly more. From the National Weather Service:

Tonight: Snow, mainly after 3am. Low around 20. West wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Friday: Snow. High near 30. East wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Friday Night: Sleet before 8pm, then snow likely. Low around 21. South wind at 8 mph becoming north. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Saturday: A chance of snow showers, mainly before 8am. Cloudy, with a high near 30. Northwest wind around 8 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

We recently reported on ice boating on Schroon Lake, after reader Tom Fallon sent us the above photo of a sail boat gliding over our frozen lake at quite a clip. This was the first ice boat we'd seen and our interest was piqued about this unusual winter sport. Now reader Bill Bernhard shares with us some history of ice boating -- both here in Schroon and the sports origins.

For those of you who might be interested, the iceboat pictured is known as a South Bay Scooter. They had their origin in the early 1900's as a working class boat for Bay Men on the Great South Bay of Long Island NY. What makes them unique compared to a typical Ice Boat is that they have no tiller or rudder. They are steered by trimming the Jib and Mainsail along with shifting the weight of the crew. There also is no runner or blade typical of most ice boats, instead they have strips of metal on the bottom of the hull. Lastly and most importantly they will float and sail like a normal soft water sailboat when the ice gives way or runs out. They are still actively raced today.  On the south end of Schroon Lake there are three more conventional iceboats sailing until the snow comes.