Missing on the Great Lakes This Winter: Ice

This is not the winter for ice-fishing on the Great Lakes, at least so far. Researchers say ice coverage on the five lakes on Jan. 1 was a measly 0.35%, the lowest since measurements began 50 years ago, reports CNN. Typically, total coverage on the first of the year is closer to 9%, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. Three of the lakes—Erie, Ontario, and Huron—had no ice at all, while Superior had 1% and Michigan 0.1%, according to a tweet from the Great Lakes Ice Tracker. "We've just had a lack of consistent cold weather," says James Kessler of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. "If you don't get consistent, cold air, you're not going to get ice formation."

A look at big cities around the lakes backs that up: Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, Green Bay, and others also have had unusually warm Decembers, in some cases the warmest on record, notes CNN. Things could change in a hurry with one big storm, with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noting that February is historically the time of peak ice for the lakes. Average coverage is about 40%. Also true, however, is that the lakes' ice has been in decline for five decades, with last year's total average of 6.2% clocking in as the fourth lowest in 50 years. Of the last 25 years, 16 have had below-average totals. (More Great Lakes stories.)