By Lohr Mckinstry
Lake Champlain has completely frozen over for the first time since 2019, according to National Weather Service officials.
The lake has full ice coverage, said meteorologist Seth Kutikoff with NWS in Burlington.
The weather service declared the lake totally frozen Feb. 14, using high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial photography.
It’s become increasingly rare for Lake Champlain to freeze over, due to warmer winters and climate change. When it does, it’s usually in February of early March, Kutikoff said.
In 2019, the lake was declared frozen March 8.
Extended below-zero temperatures in January probably contributed to the total freeze, Kutikoff said.
“(It’s) a rough idea of how cold each winter season was, based on not only the frequency of it closing, but also how early in the winter it closed,” he said.
The ice could still be very thin, he said, especially in the middle of the lake where it’s deeper, so people should stay off the ice for their own safety.
Anyone who wants to explore the ice near the shoreline should practice extreme caution and use proper safety measures. Stay off the ice if unsure of its integrity, and never venture beyond where there’s a quick return to shore possible.
At Bridgeview Harbour Marina in Port Henry, which is closed for the season, co-owner Donald Jaquish said their observations are that the lake is totally frozen around Bulwagga Bay, where the marina is located.
“It’s frozen at the marina, but I don’t know about north,” Jaquish said. “I’ve heard 99% is considered totally frozen.”
A few ice fishermen have been seen on the lake in the bay and near the Champlain Bridge between Crown Point and Chimney Point, Vermont.
The lake used to freeze every year, and ice festivals and other events were held on its frozen surface.
“The climatology of the lake closing shows most, but not all, years in the 1960s and 1970s saw Lake Champlain become fully ice covered, based on observations at the time,” Kutikoff said.
There were once wooden ice shanty cities around Port Henry, where ice anglers hunkered inside over holes drilled in the ice, hoping to pull in a few perch. But those have been replaced by pop-up shelters, sold at places like Tractor Supply Co., that fishermen can carry on and off the ice daily.
“It’s a new world out there,” Jaquish said. “A lot of people miss the clumps of ice shanties on the frozen lake. It was scenic.”
