Snowy north, metro lakes ice out setting records

False spring? Admit it. That's what some of you are thinking today.

Our Jekyll and Hyde March rolls on in Minnesota. The languid Dr. Jekyll lulled us with an unseasonably warm (+13F) first half of March.

Now it's Mr. Hyde's turn.

Enter your favorite weather cliche here. The other shoe. Too good to be true. Don't count your weather chickens.

Snowy north

Persistent snow cover was hard to find across most of Minnesota this winter. The exception was Minnesota's Arrowhead region, where deep snow to play in was fairly consistent. Our latest snowy salvo is a reminder that it still snows here in March -- half a foot and counting at several North Shore and inland locations.

• 21 N Grand Marais [Cook Co, MN] TRAINED SPOTTER reports SNOW of 8.50 INCH at 3:00 PM CDT --

• 3 NE Hermantown [St. Louis Co, MN] OFFICIAL NWS OBS reports SNOW of 6.50 INCH at 3:00 PM CDT --

• 1 SSE International FAL [Koochiching Co, MN] CO-OP OBSERVER reports SNOW of 6.00 INCH at 1:00 PM CDT -- CO-OP OBSERVER STATION INTERNATIONAL FALLS SNOW /IFSM5/

• Beaver BAY [Lake Co, MN] TRAINED SPOTTER reports SNOW of 5.50 INCH at 2:00 PM CDT -- STILL SNOWING

Rain mixed in along and close to the North Shore and reduced snowfall totals in some areas. Here's the view from Duluth's lakefront.

Warm air changing snow to rain near the lake? Symptom of a nearly ice-free Lake Superior injecting added warmth into the system close to the lake.

Gales of March

Some impressive wind gusts across the region Wednesday.

More typical March forecast

Our March reality check brings us much closer to seasonal averages as we move into the weekend. Subfreezing nights are the norm in March. The weekend looks mellower but still cool. Temps may nudge 50 again next week.

Record early ice out for metro lakes

As expected, Tuesday's gales took out the faltering ice on most metro lakes. Calhoun, White Bear and Waconia all went out Tuesday. I'm still waiting for official word from the Freshwater Society and Hennepin County Water Patrol on Minnetonka as of this posting, but the view from Excelsior Bay looks pretty wet.

I expect we'll hear any minute that Tonka is ice free. Steve Woods at the Freshwater Society send along this status report on rapidly changing ice condition on bellwether Tonka.

Everything has “schlumpfed” to the east with these winds

Spotters tell us:

- inlet to Carsons Bay clogged up but diminishing

- Robinson’s Bay has quite a bit onshore and

- and scattered rafts of sheet ice near inlet to Wayzata B

- conflicting reports of channel to Grays Bay still clogged

We expect to boat patrols with Henn Co Water Patrol this evening and early morning.

If the official date is March 16 or 17, it will be the second earliest on record for Lake Minnetonka.

Several metro area lakes set new records this week for the earliest ice out on record. Here's a partial list.

• White Bear Lake: March 16 - earliest date on record (Dating back to 1928)

• Long Lake: Tuesday March 15 - earliest date on record (Dating back to 2003)

• Lake Minnewashta: March 13 - earliest date on record (Dating back to 2003)

Track the progress of your favorite lake here via the Minnesota DNR.

Ice out, Loon in!

I am looking forward to hosting the annual Freshwater Society Ice Out Loon In Gala again this year. The event is April 7th at Harriet Island. It's always a great evening, for a good cause. Hope to see you there.

Join us for the our annual gala this year at the Nicollet Island Pavilion. This event features live music, impressive silent and live auction items, great food, good company and the Clean Water Champion Awards! Our emcee for the evening, Paul Huttner from MPR, will guide us though an entertaining night. The funds raised will go toward continuing Freshwater’s work to propel the best research and policy into action.

• When: April 7, 5:30 to 9:00pm

• Where: Nicollet Island Pavilion