Lot's of lake effect here and the pond has begun to freeze over. It's going to be a long winter, enjoy, view from back porch.

We've had some lake effect snow here too but nowhere near that amount due to being on the edge of our snow belt. I like snow but it can be scary on ponds. What's bad is when you can't get on the ice to remove some of it.

Why do i want to remove the snow?

White death aka Winterkill.

Without light penetration into the water oxygen levels drop which can lead to the fish suffocating. Removing the snow lets light shine through the ice so plankton can grow and produce oxygen.

And I actually know of one case in Ohio where two feet of rapid snowfall on open water caused a superchill effect in a perch production pond and killed a bunch of perch. It basically made the pond into slush.

my pond is spring feed and in the 25+ years i have had it i8 never had any fish die from a winter kill. It stays open at one end always due to the spring feeding it plenty of o2.