This data has been compiled by David Hodsdon. See notes 1 & 2 below for his criteria for determining ice-in and ice-out. You can also find near real-time data for many lakes in Maine on the Lake Stewards of Maine’s Ice In and Ice Out map.
| Year | Ice-Out | Ice-In | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 4/24/2001 | 12/22/2001 | |
| 2002 | 3/31/2002 | 11/29/2002 | |
| 2003 | 4/16/2003 | 12/05/2003 | |
| 2004 | 4/09/2004 | 12/15/2004 | |
| 2005 | 4/13/2005 | 12/09/2005 | |
| 2006 | 3/23/2006 | 12/30/2006 | |
| 2007 | 4/22/2007 | 12/04/2007 | |
| 2008 | 4/18/2008 | 12/18/2008 | See note 3 |
| 2009 | 4/09/2009 | 12/13/2009 | |
| 2010 | 3/18/2010 | 12/17/2010 | |
| 2011 | 4/13/2011 | 1/15/2012 | See note 4 |
| 2012 | 3/21/2012 | 12/15/2012 | |
| 2013 | 4/03/2013 | 11/30/2013 | See note 5 |
| 2014 | 4/14/2014 | 12/06/2014 | See notes 6, 7 |
| 2015 | 4/19/2015 | 1/14/2016 | See note 8 |
| 2016 | 3/13/2016 | 12/12/2016 | |
| 2017 | 4/15/2017 | 12/15/2017 | Mostly out on April 13th, 2017 |
| 2018 | 4/20/2018 | 11/23/2018 | Much of the lake was ice free prior to April 20th. |
| 2019 | 4/14/2019 | 12/04/2019 | See note 9 |
| 2020 | 3/27/2020 | Any guesses? | Took a long time to go out this year. |
There is no obvious warming trend evident from the data we’ve collected so far, but it should be stressed that this represents a very short sample period (19 years):
Notes
- The criterion for ice-out is when the lake is sufficiently free of ice that one can boat round the lake within a few feet of shore (essentially completely free of ice).
- The criterion for ice-in is when the lake is first completely covered with ice for the winter.
- Ice started out on the 16th and loons arrived on the 17th.
- First ice-in on 12/19/2011 then out a few days later.
- Considerable open water along the north shore by mid-March and there were loons observed in late March.
- David said the ice went out between 4 and 5 pm on April 14th. I don’t think he’s ever put that fine a point on it. He also said that the loons were back on the 12th, a point on which I agree.
- The lake initially froze over completely on November 29, 2014 but about half of it melted off again a few days later. It didn’t fully refreeze until the night of December 6th.
- The lake was completely covered with ice on January 6, 2016 but an area opened up again a few days later and didn’t completely refreeze until January 14, 2016
- The lake froze over completely on December 4, 2019 and on the morning of December 11 a significant portion had reopened as the result of 50°+ temperatures and over 1″ of rain. It refroze the next day, December 12th and mostly reopened on December 15th again as the result of warm temperatures and heavy rainfall. Stay tuned!
