The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office declared ice-out on Lake Minnetonka on Wednesday, just days shy of a record date amid a warm Minnesota winter.
Ice-out declared on Lake Minnetonka
Wednesday’s statement was days shy of a record date on the big lake.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 14, 2024 at 12:59AM
The declaration, made about 5:53 p.m. Wednesday, is the unofficial start of the boating season on the metro area’s largest lake, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Officials on Wednesday were able to safely pilot a patrol boat through all the lake’s channels and bays without obstruction by ice, the statement said.
The earliest ice-out date was March 11, 1878. Officials from the nonprofit Freshwater and the Sheriff’s Office water patrol had hoped to declare the lake ice free Monday, which would have tied that record.
Ice-out on Lake Minnetonka is “is a highly anticipated event,” said Freshwater spokesman Chris O’Brien, who joined the water patrol for an excursion Monday.
This report includes material from staff writer Tim Harlow.
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