Ice-Out

When the ice cover melts from lakes, rivers, ponds and oceans it's a welcome sign of spring. This event is known as "ice-out." Ice-out dates are a way to measure the advance of spring, and dates can be compared from year to year.

Watch and Report

  • Adopt a frozen body of water near you. You may choose a lake, pond, river, stream, bay, estuary--or even an ocean.
  • Watch for the exact date that ice-out occurs. We define "ice-out" as the time the body of water is 90% free of ice.
  • Report ice-out and add your location to the map.

Ice Out Map

We define "ice-out" as when the body of water is 90% free of ice.