Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

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Despite high winds, thin ice and wide swaths of open water, a handful of anglers decided to try their luck on Upper Red Lake Saturday afternoon. 


When two of those anglers didn't come home, search teams scoured the lake. 


According to Red Lake police, the anglers were found after midnight, stranded on a chunk of ice which had broken off and drifted out into open water. They were rescued safely and treated for hypothermia.


These kind of rescues are pretty common on Upper Red Lake. It's a large, shallow body of water. That means it often freezes early, but the ice can be unstable. Waves build up quickly, cracking apart ice sheets, sometimes with anglers onboard. 


But this year's rescue is earlier than usual. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recreation safety coordinator Lisa Dugan sees it as a cautionary tale. 


"Some lakes may have frozen early," she said. "But with temperatures in the 40s coming up this week, it might not be safe."


She recommends anglers stay off the ice until it's at least 4 inches thick and head for land if it seems unstable at all. 


She also said that a lot of people won't take her advice. 


"You know, no matter how many times you say that the ice isn't safe, it won't stop people from going out," she said. "Minnesotans love to ice fish. They get excited." 


The Upper Red Lake rescue, she said, is a prime example.


"We have an aerial photo from the search plane," she said. "You can see there are several anglers out on the ice, not just the ones who had to be rescued, and they're very close to the open water." 


The conditions were clearly unsafe, but people still tried to fish. And with many Minnesotans off work, and kids out of school this Thanksgiving, Dugan said a lot of people will be tempted to brave risky ice conditions. 

Why thin ice is hard to detect

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John Enger

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Lakes in northern Minnesota are barely frozen over, and already rescue teams have pulled two anglers off an ice floe on Upper Red Lake.

Ice rescue prompts angler safety warning

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