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Ice safety, snowstorms - all part of March

The National Weather Service issued a reminder Wednesday, March 21, on Twitter about ice safety. The weather service reiterated ice is never 100 percent safe. "You can't judge the strength of ice just by its appearance, age, thickness, temperatur...

Tire tracks reveal the ice beneath a mantle of snow near the Whipple Beach landing Wednesday, March 21, in Baxter. Farther out, several vehicles were parked together on the lake. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Tire tracks reveal the ice beneath a mantle of snow near the Whipple Beach landing Wednesday, March 21, in Baxter. Farther out, several vehicles were parked together on the lake. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

The National Weather Service issued a reminder Wednesday, March 21, on Twitter about ice safety.

The weather service reiterated ice is never 100 percent safe.

"You can't judge the strength of ice just by its appearance, age, thickness, temperature, or whether or not the ice is covered with snow," the weather service reported.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported ice strength is based on all those factors-"plus the depth of water under the ice, size of the water body, water chemistry and currents, the distribution of the load on the ice, and local climatic conditions."

Beginning Thursday, daytime highs are forecast to be about 40 degrees. Once the cloud cover clears next week, highs should climb higher to nearly 50 degrees. Ice was out on some area lakes by the end of March last year, about 10 days from now. But the Brainerd lakes area has experienced extremes for dates when ice-covered lakes revert to open water in recent years-setting records in 2012 for the earliest ice out dates and in 2013 for the latest dates.

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Rain showers are in the forecast Friday, mainly before 8 p.m. with a chance of changing to all snow after 9 p.m. Chance for precipitation is 50 percent. But the heaviest snow may be to the south.

Heavy March snow may arrive Friday

A Winter Storm Watch was issued for areas south of Interstate 94 Friday afternoon into Saturday morning. The weather service noted snowfall amounts of 5-9 inches may fall in western and southern Minnesota, with 3-8 inches possible in St. Cloud and the Twin Cities down to Faribault, Owatonna and Red Wing. For those planning to travel, the weather service warned of difficult driving conditions with snow and wind gusts up to 35 mph.

"Snow will develop across the Dakotas and build eastward into west-central Minnesota late Friday morning, reaching east-central Minnesota Friday evening," the weather service reported. "There may be a brief period of rain before turning to heavy snow as temperatures cool quickly."

Become a weather observer with CoCoRaHS

The weather service is seeking weather observers through a nonprofit known as CoCoRaHS, which stands for Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network. The network is sponsored by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation and many others, the National Weather Service reported, noting its network includes more than 20,000 volunteer observers of rain, snow and hail in North America.

"We need your weather reports," the weather service stated. "While our radar is great, when it comes to observing rain, hail, and snow, there's nothing better than human observer. Your observations help us fill in the gaps between other observation sites and can help us better understand what happened at your precise location."

Observers are asked to observe and report weather at the same time each day, even if no rain or snow fell. The recommended reporting time is 7 a.m. The zero reports are helpful when monitoring drought.

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Additionally, CoCoRaHS observers are also asked to "send a significant weather report if heavy rain/snow or hail is occurring. These reports are sent immediately to our office and are very important because they provide us much needed information to issue severe weather statements such as flash flood warnings."

To assist observers, there are short training presentations-at bit.ly/2pwTEea-to help people measure rain, snow and hail accurately.

For more information, go to www.cocorahs.org , email steve.gohde@noaa.gov or call 218-729-6697.

Those interested should go to the website. Observers will need to purchase a rain gauge. CoCoRaHS uses a standard 4-inch rain gauge to ensure observations are measured the same everywhere. Participants will also need a snow board-a flat board, painted white, ideally about 16 inches by 16 inches-to measure snow, as well as a measuring stick. The National Weather Service reports it is happy to assist if there are questions.

SIDEBAR

Ice out dates

Ice out dates on area lakes cover varying periods of record. Ice out definitions also vary from lake to lake and may occurs when the lake is completely free of ice, when it's possible to navigate from point A to point B or when a lake is 90 percent open water. Observers, the DNR reports, use consistent criteria from year to year. The most recent and other ice out dates of record for area lakes include:

• Bay Lake, ice out on April 4 in 2017. Median ice out is April 14. The earliest ice out came on March 30, 2016. The latest ice out was May 11, 2013.

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• Emily Lake, ice out was March 29 in 2016, also the earliest. Median ice out is March 29. Latest: May 11, 2013.

• Gull Lake, ice out in 2017 was April 20. Earliest: March 26, 2012. Latest: May 18, 1950.

• Mille Lacs Lake, ice out was April 10 in 2017. Median ice out is April 25. Earliest: March 26, 2012. Latest: May 16, 2013.

• Nokay Lake, ice out on April 3 in 2017. Median ice out is April 14. Earliest: March 31, 2016. Latest: April 30, 2008.

• North Long Lake, ice out was April 1 in 2016. Median ice out is April 18. Earliest: April 1, 2010. Latest: May 13, 2013.

• Pelican Lake, ice out was April 3 in 2016. Median date is April 18. Earliest date: March 27, 2012. Latest date: May 14, 2013.

• Red Sand Lake, ice out date in 2017 was March 29. Median date is April 13. Earliest date: March 20, 2012. Latest date: May 8, 2013.

• Rice Lake, ice out was April 1 in 2016. Median ice out: April 13. Earliest: April 1, 2016. Latest: April 26, 2008.

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• Serpent Lake, ice out was April 5 in 2016, setting the earliest date. Median date is April 11. Latest: April 25, 2011.

• Ten Mile, ice out was April 16 in 2016. Median ice out is April 25. Earliest: March 29, 2012. Latest: May 18, 1996.

• Upper South Long, ice out was April 2. The median ice out is April 14. Earliest: March 26, 2000. Latest: May 10, 2013.

• White Sand Lake, ice out date in 2017 was March 30. Median ice out is April 14. Earliest: March 20, 2012. Latest: May 12, 2013.

• Whitefish, ice was out on April 11 in 2017, setting the earliest ice out date. The median ice out is April 23. Latest: May 14, 2013.

Source: Minnesota DNR. Go to bit.ly/2IG6TSR for more information and use the settings icon with the map to pick a year or get median ice out dates and record dates across the state.

Ice begins to recede from the shore at Whipple Beach in Baxter Wednesday, March 21. Temperatures are expected to be near 50 degrees by next week. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Ice begins to recede from the shore at Whipple Beach in Baxter Wednesday, March 21. Temperatures are expected to be near 50 degrees by next week. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

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