Political Climate
May 12, 2013
Still waiting for spring in Minnesota…ice invades lake homes

Even though we all know “weather is not climate,” that rarely stops CAGW’s fiercest proponents, so we might as well have a little fun with it as well. This weekend is the 2013 Minnesota State Fishing Opener. And the joke around these parts is the most important equipment a fisherman needs this year is… an ice auger.

Minnesota, like much of the country (as reported at WUWT here) is currently undergoing its own little ice age with record late season snows (18” in southeastern MN a week ago) and cold, and near record ice out dates on the State’s lakes. Lakes in the southern third of the State saw ice outs approaching new records and many lakes in the northern half of the state are still ice covered today.

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“Lake Minnetonka” in the Mpls/St. Paul area finally saw ice out on May 2nd, which easily could have been extended to May 5th or 6th had the 18” snowstorm moved about 40 miles to the West. The Freshwater Society history shows 134 years of ice out dates for Lake Minnetonka, going back to the mid 1800′s. Median ice out for Lake Minnetonka over the last 150+ years is April 14th. Only 3 years 1856, 1857 and 1859 saw later ice out dates than 2013.

The story is more fun as you travel to central and northern Minnesota. Outdoors writer and photographer Ron Hustvedt wote today in a story in the Star Tribune:

In 30-plus years of fishing the mythical Minnesota walleye opener, I can safely say I’ve never seen ice on my favorite lakes this late in the season. It’s been close a few years but never like this and, according to the record books, only a time or two like this in the last century.

The picture above isn’t just a random ice auger shot - its real, from earlier today.

Please do not try this at home – these guys intimately knew the area, were well outfitted with life preservers and safety gear, and never ventured into areas more than a few feet deep.

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In another story, from Thursday, the Star Tribune’s Doug Smith notes:

Some of Minnesota’s most popular fishing lakes are expected to be iced in on Saturday’s fishing opener - an occurrence not seen in perhaps 60 years. Ice reportedly is still 2 feet thick on some northern lakes, and ... major lakes from Lake Mille Lacs north .... still could be mostly ice-covered Saturday. “There will be substantial ice cover on the northern third of the state,” said Henry Drewes, Department of Natural Resources regional fisheries manager in Bemidji. “It will not be gone by Saturday. This is certainly the most significant late-season ice cover I have seen in my 25 years with the DNR.”

Some great live pictures from MN lake webcams at http://www.mnlakecams.com

Oh, and it was snowing earlier today in Duluth, MN. On May 11th.

And here’s what you really came to see a live, active “glacier”, a moving wall of ice, a ‘little ice age’ right here, right now, in Minnesota today wink

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In Canada, ice flows from Lake Ochre and other lakes has come ashore and destroyed vacation homes.

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