2012 will go down as more of the more memorable early ice out seasons in Minnesota history. Many lakes in the state set new ice out records, including lakes that have ice out data for 75 years or more. The lakes that lost their ice first in Minnesota were Iowa and Hall in Martin County on March 12. The last lakes to lose their ice were Lake of the Woods, Rainy Lake, and Greenwood Lake during the second week of April.
The ice out season surged northward quickly with the record setting warm March 2012, whose temperatures eclipsed past historical warm Marches like 1878 and 1910. In the Twin Cities the average temperature finished at 48.3 degrees, handily breaking the old record of 45.0 degrees set in 1910. The only thing that prevented virtually all the lakes to lose their ice in March across the state was a cool down over northern Minnesota for the last week of March, including a modest snowstorm.
Here are some of the larger lakes that have set new records in 2012.
Lake Name County New Record Old Record Period of Record --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White Bear Lake Ramsey/Wash March 19, 2012 March 21, 2000 85 years Minnewaska Pope March 21, 2012 March 23, 2000 107 years Green Kandiyohi March 20, 2012 March 22, 1987 83 years Mille Lacs Mille Lacs March 26, 2012 April 2, 2000 56 years Big Sandy Aitkin March 26, 2012 March 31, 2000 59 years Bemidji Beltrami April 2, 2012 April 6, 2010 76 years Leech Cass April 2, 2012 April 6, 2010 77 years Vermilion St. Louis April 2, 2012 April 6, 2010 93 years