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Sketchy ice formation during the winter, record warmth and high winds are driving the earliest ice-out dates on record for many lakes. 

Many lakes in southern Minnesota lost their ice in February this year. 

That’s unheard of for many lakes. Lakes around southern Minnesota including the Twin Cities are setting new records for the earliest ice-out dates on record. 

Some of the bigger lakes around the Twin Cities are barely clinging to a sketchy layer of ice.

We set some remarkable warm temperature records this past weekend across Minnesota. A tongue of record warmth blanketed southeast Minnesota Sunday afternoon with temperatures pushing well into the 70s. 

Sunday was the earliest 70-degree temperature on record for the Twin Cities. The previous record was 72 degrees on March 5, 2000.

Here’s a brief list of a few notable records over the past weekend:

My MPR News colleague Mark Seeley elaborates on the notable state record set Sunday:

As I type this Monday afternoon, I’m watching new record early ice-out dates pop up in real-time on the 

Here are some notable record early ice-out dates this year. Some of these lakes are losing ice a month earlier than the median ice-out date! 

I asked Pete Boulay with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources State Climatology Office about the magnitude of some of the record early ice-out dates this year. So far, Clear Lake in Waseca has broken the previous record by the most days. 

This year is proving to be an unprecedented one in terms of record warmth so far and early ice-out dates.

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Paul Huttner

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Sketchy ice formation during the winter, record warmth and high winds are driving the earliest ice-out dates on record for many Minnesota lakes.

Record warmth and winds driving record early ice-out in Minnesota

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