As of December 22nd, Upper Saranac Lake was fully frozen. However, unseasonably warm weather over the holidays has prevented the ice from reaching a safe thickness.
Over the past century, the freeze-up period for Adirondack lakes has experienced a significant shift. While the Upper Saranac Foundation (USF) has limited historical ice-in data, its neighboring lake, Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, boasts one of the most comprehensive ice records in New York State, dating back to 1903. On average, Mirror Lake now freezes 13 days later than it did when record-keeping began.
Long-term data like this provides critical insights into how our environment is changing.
To learn more about USF’s ice-in and ice-out records, visit usfoundation.net/programs/ice-in-ice-out.