Most area lakes were ice-covered by the end of November this year.  Following a cold snap after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and once the winds died down on Monday night, Lake Minnewaska was completely ice covered by Tuesday, Nov. 28.  Pelican Lake was also completely ice-covered on Nov. 28, according to a lakeshore resident there. 

That’s a pretty common time for the lake to freeze, according to years of data on when Lake Minnewaska is frozen over.  Anglers were looking forward to some time to ice fish before the Christmas holiday, but the weather didn’t cooperate.

A late December warm-up brought temperatures in the 50s and then a two-to-three-day steady rain and much of Lake Minnewaska and Pelican Lake featured open water once again.  Large parts of the lake started to feature some open water just before Christmas and by Wednesday, after close to three inches of rain fell on the area during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, much of the lake was open.   See  Stoneage Ramblings by John R. Stone on Page 4A for more on a similar situation that happened in 1982.