(Wahpeton)– Extremely mild temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday and today’s (Thurs.) high winds are taking their toll on the ice on area lakes.
Gary Owen of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the high wind is resulting in a lot of wave action in open areas, causing them to rapidly expand in size.
Owen says the holes will continue to expand for as long as the wind blows…even though the temperature has gotten much colder. The National Weather Service says the high wind will continue through atleast Friday.
Once the wind does go down and the holes re-freeze, Owen says the ice thickness will be very uneven and will vary greatly from one place to the next. He’s urging anyone venturing out onto it to use extreme caution.
Owen says he’s had several reports in recent days of people actually falling through, but no injuries have been reported. There’s even been a report of an all-terrain-vehicle falling through on Little Spirit Lake.
