(Spirit Lake)– The cold weather has resulted in a lot of ice being made on area lakes. Dan Dirks is a local Conservation Officer with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He says the average thickness on the Iowa Great Lakes ranges from 6 to 10 inches right now…
“We’re finally starting to build a little bit of ice with this cold weather that we’ve been having, so yeah, that’s a great thing but unfortunately this snow is slowing it down a little bit, it’s insulating it. But for the most part there’s been a lot of folks venturing out already. We’ve got about anywhere from 6 to 10 inches pretty consistently around the lakes. So yeah, it’s looking good as of right now but, you know, one thing people want to remember is that there’s no such thing as 100 percent safe ice. Definitely check your spots with a spud bar or what have you and, you know, you want to try to stick to good, clear, ice, as opposed to the discolored stuff, so.”
Dirks adds there are some areas that are never safe to venture onto, even if the weather has been extremely cold…
“Obviously bridges are always going to be an unsafe place to try to go, so always avoid bridges.”
He says heaves and ridges also can pose a danger. Those commonly form off of points and along shorelines.
