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

Many southern Minnesota lakes shedding ice a month earlier than normal

Paul Huttner
Ice out
Ice-out dates for Minnesota lakes, updated Monday
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

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Yet another sign of the warmest winter on record is appearing in Minnesota.

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.

Iowa Lake
The ice on Iowa Lake along the Iowa border went out on Feb. 23. That is more than a month earlier than the median ice-out date of March 24.
Minnesota DNR

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.

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Lotus lake
The ice on Lotus Lake in Chanhassen went out on March 3. That is the earliest on record and more than a month earlier than its median date of April 7.
Minnesota DNR

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

Thin ice on Lake Harriet
Thin ice on Lake Harriet on Monday.
Lake Harriet Sailing School

Record weekend warmth

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.

4p SUN temp
Temperatures at 4 p.m. Sunday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, via Pivotal Weather

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:

  • 59 degrees ties the record high in the Twin Cities Friday (previous 59 degrees 1990)

  • 63 degrees set a record high in the Twin Cities Saturday (54 degrees 1923)

  • 74 degrees set a record high for the Twin Cities Sunday. (65 degrees 1905)

  • 75 degrees in Austin and Hokah (Houston County) set a new state record for March 3. (71 degrees in 1905)

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

Hi all,

Lots of record max temps set today.  Austin and Hokah hit 75°F (maybe others too).  That is a new statewide record for March 3rd, surpassing the 71°F reading at Milan in 1905. Earl Kuehnast disputed and discarded the reading of 76°F at Ashby, MN (Grant County) on this date in 1907 as there was no evidence that it was real.  Quite a day.

Mark

Record early ice-out dates

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

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!

  • Clear Lake (Waseca County) Ice out March 1 (Median April 3, previous record March 6)

  • Iowa Lake Feb. 23, 2024. (Median March 24)

  • Lotus Lake (Chanhassen) Ice out March 3 (Median April 7)

  • Kohlman Lake (Maplewood) March 3, 2024 (Median April 1)

  • Pleasant Lake (Stearns County) March 3, 2024 (Median April 11)

Clear lake
Clear Lake near Waseca set a record early ice-out this year. The ice went out on March 1. That beats the previous record of March 6, 1987. It's also more than a month earlier than the median ice-out date of April 3.
Minnesota DNR

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.

Hi Paul:

So far the lake with the longest record that was broken this year is Clear Lake in Waseca County with dates back to 1874. The old record is March 6, 1987. Ice out for 2024 is running about a month early.  A big thanks goes out to Jim Gilbert who’s been a wealth of information.

-Pete

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

Stay tuned.

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