Ice Cycles

The storm over the weekend was barely over before the snow on my roof began to slide and melt and form ice cycles. This one reached 4 solid feet by the time I took this picture of it. The photo was shot through the screen mesh of the window, which explains the cross-hatching.

I come from a people of wive's tales. And the story says that the length of the ice cycle predicts the depth of the next snow storm. 48"!? Let's hope not!