Pelican Lake Ice Dates

These charts reflect ice on and ice off dates from various sources. The median ice off date is April 22 and ice on date is November 13 but as the charts show the dates can vary considerably. The median ice on time is 162 days and the trendline is decreasing very slightly at a rate of 10 minutes per year. The shortest ice on winter was 1980/81 at 125 days and the longest was 1995/96 at 193 days.   

  Several factors impact when the lake freezes and thaws. The timing of the spring melt is affected by the lake surface area, larger lakes remain frozen longer. The rate of melt is a function of solar radiation, air temperature and wind. The rate of freezeup varies by the volume of the lake. Ice formation depends on the rate of cooling of the entire water column after the summer stratification is overturned. The cooling is a function of wind mixing and air temperature. 

Ice thickness depends on air temperature and snow cover. The heavier the snow cover is the thinner the ice but in the spring the snow reflects the solar radiation so thin ice may take just as long to melt.

More information can be found at http://lakeice.squarespace.com

Ice on Date Frequency 

Ice on Dates

Ice on Levels

Ice off Date Frequency 

Ice off dates

Days Frozen