Ice-Out (Back to Signs of Spring Everywhere Home Page) Background Is this spring the warmest in recorded history? Or is it the coolest? We often hear weather announcers discuss these things. How could you compare spring's arrival from year to year? What could you measure? In northern regions of North America, the melting of ice cover on lakes, rivers, ponds and oceans is a welcome sign of spring. This event is known as "ice-out", and ice-out dates are an accurate way to measure spring's pace from year to year. How to Participate in the Ice-Out Study Report the Ice-Out Date of Your Local Waters to Journey North Here's What You'll Do: Adopt a frozen body of water near you. You may choose a lake, pond, river, stream, bay, estuary--or even an ocean. Report back to us when ice-out occurs. (We define "ice out" as the time the body of water is 90% free of ice.) Predict the Arrival of Spring Official 1999 Ice-out Observation Posts Strategically placed across the Northern Hemisphere, these 6 official sites will monitor the ice-cover in their local waters. Guess when you think the ice will melt at each of these places. Ice Location Lat/Long Chukchi Sea Point Hope, Alaska 68.5 N, 66.80 W Neana River Nenana, Alaska 64.5 N, 49.0 W Hudson Bay Rankin Inlet, NT 62.60 N, 93.50 W Lake Minnetonka Minneapolis, Minnesota 44.95 N, 93.54 W Walden Pond Concord, Massachusetts 42.25 N, 71.25 W River Teno Utsjoki, Finland(Lapland) 69.883 N, 27.017 E Copyright 1999 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form