'It sounded like something hit the house': Ice breaks with a bang on Saskatchewan lake

After the frozen holiday season, residents of Pelican Pointe, Sask., woke up to a loud boom on Tuesday and a rapid warm-up could beto blame.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the ice on Last Mountain Lake fractured, leaving a large ridge and open water on the lake and creating a startlingly loud noise.

Pelican Pointeresident Linda Phillipssays the boomwas nothing like atypical ice-cracking sound you would hear on the frozen lake. The noise reminded her of the 2014 explosion across the lake at Regina Beach.

• Two quakes damage homes, crack ground in Alberta Beach

"It sounded like something hit the house. The house just shook. I could feel it through the cushion on my chair,"Phillips said.

Changes in temperature can cause icebreaks

A rapidtemperature swing could be to blame for the sudden change in the lake ice and the fracture.

On New Year's Day, much of Saskatchewan remained under extreme cold warnings with temperatures in the 30s. In nearby Regina,temperatures remained near 30 C through the morning.

By Tuesday, though, a quick warm-up spread across Saskatchewan. Temperatures near PelicanPointejumped around 20 degrees in just 24 hours.

Rapid warm-ups after long cold spells causethe ice on lakes to expand. The buildup of pressure can cause ridgesand sudden breaks in the ice, especially when there is little snow cover to insulate the ice.

What about an 'ice quake?'

Ice quakes, orcryoseisms, are a different phenomenon than pressure ridges on lake ice.

They happen when groundwater is frozen quickly in extremely cold temperatures. As the groundwater freezes, it expands and can causes the ground to suddenly crack.

These seismic events can cause damage to homes, as was seen on Monday in Alberta.