The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and local law enforcement officials are cautioning residents about dangerous thin ice conditions after multiple people have fallen through and died or required rescue.
Due to "widespread rain, wind and unseasonably warm weather during recent days," ice conditions in Minnesota have degraded, the DNR said in a news release.
That means parts of central to southern Minnesota now have open water. Farther north at Upper Red Lake in Beltrami County, 122 anglers were rescued Friday evening after they were stranded on an ice floe that detached from the main ice. No injuries were reported, although four of the anglers fell into open water when bystanders attempted a rescue by canoe.
There have been at least three additional ice-angler rescues this season on Upper Red Lake, the DNR said.
Temperatures are forecast to drop in northern Minnesota, but ice conditions will remain poor until there's a string of cold days to form new, clear ice, the DNR said.
Two people have died so far in December after falling through ice in Minnesota.
On Dec. 23, a man fell through the ice on Big Toad Lake in northwestern Minnesota. Deputies and emergency workers found the man with his ATV overturned in 4 to 5 feet of water. He was taken to an ambulance, where he was declared dead.
On Dec. 28, a man died after a commercial transport vehicle, commonly known as a "bomber," crashed through the ice on Lake of the Woods in the Northwest Angle, killing the passenger. He was identified Friday as John F. Frey, 78, of Prairie du Sac, Wis.
