Ice out 5 to 12 days early on some southern Minnesota lakes
Mild weather and wind taking ice out. Tuesday's rain will speed up the process.
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Our mild spring is breaking up ice earlier than average on southern Minnesota lakes this year. The latest Minnesota DNR ice out maps shows several lakes have lost ice cover in the past few days. It should be noted this data set does not include every lake in Minnesota. There are likely many more lakes that are now ice-free.
Several lakes near Fairmont, Minnesota are now ice-free. Sager Lake east of Fairmont is ice-free as of last Friday, March 19. That’s a week ahead of the median ice out date of March 26.
Lake Shaokotan in southwest Minnesota was ice-free as of Monday, March 22. That a full 11 days ahead of the median of April 2.
In the Twin Cities, Spoon Lake in St. Paul is reported ice-free as of March 21. That’s six days ahead of the median of March 27.
Mild March
Our mild, rainy, and windy March is working overtime to break up ice on area lakes. Temperatures are running 8 to 12 degrees warmer than average across most of Minnesota this month.
Tuesday’s heavy rain and wind will likely speed up the ice out process on many more lakes this week.
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