AUBURN – Never mind the asterisk; today’s one for the record books.
If Wednesday’s forecast held true, with temperatures expected to dip into the single digits overnight, that should be enough to cover Lake Auburn under a blanket of ice, says Mary Jane Dillingham. If so, it will be the latest in the season that the lake has frozen over.
“I’m predicting 100 percent by Thursday,” said the Auburn Water District spokeswoman.
The lake, the source of drinking water for the cities of Auburn and Lewiston, was about 90 percent frozen over as of Jan. 24. Dillingham says that will probably be the date she uses for this year’s official ice report, but added that she’ll probably put an asterisk next to the date to note that a full freeze-up didn’t occur until today.
In records that go back to 1952, there has never been a later ice-over date for Lake Auburn.
Until this year, Jan. 18, 2002, had been the latest the lake’s surface had remained open. Before then, it was Jan. 13, 1997.
Typically, freeze-up takes place between the third week of December and the first week in January, Dillingham’s records show.
Of course this year hasn’t been typical. January already cruised into National Weather Service record books as the second warmest ever.
And, Dillingham says the ups and downs of this winter, both in terms of temperatures and rain, has made anticipating ice cover on Lake Auburn something of a guessing game.
It was almost covered with ice on Dec. 20, Dillingham said. By Dec. 22, she declared it frozen, noting at least 90 percent surface ice.
But on Dec. 27 the ice largely cleared as a result of warming temps, rain and wind.
A cooling trend followed, but on Jan. 9 she was able to list the lake as frozen again, reaching that 90 percent threshold. By Jan. 15, it partly reopened, then the waters hardened yet again to 90 percent by the 24th.
Dillingham said a warm Groundhog Day then created three smaller openings.
“We still considered it frozen,” she said, but noted those openings should be fully closed for the first time all season by today.
She said ice depths vary. She wouldn’t attempt to walk on the ice near the district’s intake, she said, and noted that inlets and outlets are still far from being hard enough to carry weight.
Last year, she said she measured 19 inches of ice on the lake on Feb. 19.
Ice fishing is banned there, so the soft surface hasn’t been a problem. The lake opens to regular fishing on April 1.
Dillingham says this year’s opening day won’t likely be hampered by thick ice. She’s predicting ice-out in early March.
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