Upper Saranac Lake (USL) ice went out on March 27. This is the second earliest ice out date and the shortest duration of ice coverage on record. The earliest documented ice-out occurred in 2012 on March 24 and the latest was 2018 on May 2.
Each of the last two years have seen the shortest ice duration recorded: 96 days in 2023 and 83 days in 2024. In both of these years, ice did not form until January; Jan. 9 in 2023 and Jan. 5 in 2024. Ice cover on USL in 2024 was 37 days shorter than the average duration — 120 days is the average, with the longest recorded duration being 147 days occurring during the winter of 2013-14.
The ice-out date has gradually trended earlier since the Upper Saranac Foundation has been keeping records beginning in 1998. This trend is indicated in the accompanying graph
While Upper Saranac Lake’s ice-out and duration records are very limited, nearby lakes such as Mirror Lake have records dating back as far as 1903. Those records indicate a significant reduction in the duration of ice cover over time, with current ice cover on average 26 days shorter than it was in 1903. Mirror Lake’s mean duration of ice cover over the entire record is 140 days; the mean duration since 2000 is 124 days.
Keeping ice records are important for understanding lake water quality and, increasingly, scientists are interested in ice-in, ice duration, and ice-out data as an indicator of climate change. For a complete history of ice-in and ice-out records, visit the Upper Saranac Foundation’s Web page at: https://usfoundation.net/programs/ice-in-ice-out/
Ice-out records have been monitored on USL since 1998 by the Upper Saranac Foundation. These records help in our ongoing work to study and understand changes occurring to the Upper Saranac Lake watershed. While the implications for winter recreational use are obvious, there are also ecological effects – warming waters pose threats to native aquatic species such as trout. This change can also provide opportunities for invasive species to encroach on the watershed.