Sheriff declares ice out on Lake Minnetonka

Thanks to the balmy weather, the Hennepin County sheriff's office already has declared an "ice-out" on Lake Minnetonka.

The ice-out was declared at 5 a.m. Tuesday. Usually the ice-out on the big western Twin Cities lake doesn't happen until mid-April.

This year's ice-out is among the earliest since record-keeping began in the late 1800s. The sheriff's office says a March ice-out has happened in only a handful of years. The last time was in 2000 when the ice-out was declared on March 18.

An ice-out is declared when a boat can be piloted on Lake Minnetonka through the narrows along Big Island and back to the sheriff's Water Patrol Unit in Spring Park.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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