well all I know is what i saw on that Penguin Movie...and there was plenty of snow on the topside of the ice, and the ice was plenty thick, but there was a good amount of light under it.
I've been reading this guy's blog (don't know who he is but it has been interesting) and most of the ponds in his snow pics are wind-swept clean
The Yamakoshi Year
But his pics around the houses show huge snowfalls...and the reason is????????????