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Colorado Parks And Wildlife Records Ice On Steamboat Lake Making Eerie, Star Wars-Like Sounds

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife posted a really cool video to their Facebook page on Thursday that captured incredible, but odd sounds coming from the ice on Steamboat Lake. They described the sound as something that might make you think of the Star Wars movies.

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Ice on Steamboat Lake. (credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

Weather is responsible for the strange sounds, specifically, rapid changes in the temperature. Temperature fluctuations cause the ice to expand and contract, which creates cracks in the ice. As the surface of the ice cracks it creates the strange noises.

Large changes in the air temperature are most common shortly after sunrise and again around sunset. This is when the strange sounds would most likely be heard.

Despite our long stretch of unseasonably warm weather, it is getting cold enough in the mountains for ice to form on area lakes. But in most cases it is not thick enough for recreation. Always check the ice conditions before attempting to venture out onto a frozen lake or pond, and remember to keep pets on a leash and prevent them from getting onto the ice and potentially falling through.

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