Ice-out expanding rapidly northward across Minnesota
Warmer temps, high winds breaking up lake ice quickly
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The ice is slowly melting.
Ice-out on Minnesota lakes is expanding rapidly northward now. The combination of warmer temperatures, higher sun intensity and strong winds broke up the ice on many central Minnesota lakes this week.
NASA’s MODIS Terra satellite image at the top of this post shows most lakes are open water now across central Minnesota. You can see the ice on Lake Mille Lacs retreating now as strong northwest winds shove the ice field southward across the big lake.
The MODIA satellite shot also shows the popular Gull and Whitefish lake chains north of Brainerd appear to be open water as of Tuesday afternoon.
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Here’s the view of open water Tuesday afternoon at the northwest end of Lake Mille Lacs, courtesy of Twin Pines Resort webcam.
The latest Minnesota Department of Natural Resources lake ice tracker shows many lakes now reporting ice-out across central Minnesota.
Ice-out is still running about five days later than average across most of Minnesota this spring.
With warmer temperatures and plenty of sunshine, expect lake ice reports to continue to come in this week from central and northern Minnesota.
