This data has been compiled by David Hodsdon. See notes 1 & 2 below for his criteria for determining ice-in and ice-out. You can also find near real-time data for many lakes in Maine on the Lake Stewards of Maine’s Ice In and Ice Out map.
| Year | Ice-Out | Ice-In | Days Between In/Out | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 4/24/2001 | 12/22/2001 | 242 | |
| 2002 | 3/31/2002 | 11/29/2002 | 243 | |
| 2003 | 4/16/2003 | 12/05/2003 | 233 | |
| 2004 | 4/09/2004 | 12/15/2004 | 250 | |
| 2005 | 4/13/2005 | 12/09/2005 | 240 | |
| 2006 | 3/23/2006 | 12/30/2006 | 282 | |
| 2007 | 4/22/2007 | 12/04/2007 | 226 | |
| 2008 | 4/18/2008 | 12/18/2008 | 244 | See note 3 |
| 2009 | 4/09/2009 | 12/13/2009 | 248 | |
| 2010 | 3/18/2010 | 12/17/2010 | 274 | |
| 2011 | 4/13/2011 | 1/15/2012 | 277 | See note 4 |
| 2012 | 3/21/2012 | 12/15/2012 | 269 | |
| 2013 | 4/03/2013 | 11/30/2013 | 241 | See note 5 |
| 2014 | 4/14/2014 | 12/06/2014 | 236 | See notes 6, 7 |
| 2015 | 4/19/2015 | 1/14/2016 | 270 | See note 8 |
| 2016 | 3/13/2016 | 12/12/2016 | 274 | |
| 2017 | 4/15/2017 | 12/15/2017 | 244 | Mostly out on April 13th, 2017 |
| 2018 | 4/20/2018 | 11/23/2018 | 217 | Much of the lake was ice free prior to April 20th. |
| 2019 | 4/14/2019 | 12/04/2019 | 234 | See note 9 |
| 2020 | 3/27/2020 | 12/19/2020 | 267 | Took a long time to go out this year. See note 10 |
| 2021 | 3/29/2021 | 12/20/2021 | 266 | Rather late. |
| 2022 | 3/29/2022 | 12/22/2022 | 268 | First open water 3/20; 12/13 was the first "almost but not quite" frozen over date. All iced over on 12/22; melted off 12/23; refrozen 12/26 |
| 2023 | 4/03/2023 | 1/02/2024 | 274 | Initially frozen 12/08/23. Melted off on the 18th. Refroze completely 1/02/2024 |
| 2024 | 3/08/2024 | 12/15/2024 | 282 | Earliest Ice Out Ever; Average Ice-In Date; melted off 3 days later. will revise ice-in when it freezes up again! |
| 2025 | ||||
| Averages: | Out: 4/5 | In: 12/15 | No Ice 254 |
We’ve only been recording data for 22 years which in climate change terms is not very long at all. However, we can already see that on average, ice in is happening just a wee bit later every fall, and ice out is happening just a wee bit earlier every spring. The number of ice free days on Clary Lake is clearly increasing (as evidenced by the rising trendline) because it is affected by the minor changes in both statistics and is being “squeezed” at both ends:
- The criterion for ice-out is when the lake is sufficiently free of ice that one can boat round the lake within a few feet of shore (essentially completely free of ice).
- Ice-in is when the lake is completely covered with ice for it least one day and night and remains at least partially (say 50%) covered from then on.
- Ice started out on the 16th and loons arrived on the 17th.
- First ice-in on 12/19/2011 then out a few days later.
- Considerable open water along the north shore by mid-March and there were loons observed in late March.
- David said the ice went out between 4 and 5 pm on April 14th. I don’t think he’s ever put that fine a point on it. He also said that the loons were back on the 12th, a point on which I agree.
- The lake initially froze over completely on November 29, 2014 but about half of it melted off again a few days later. It didn’t fully refreeze until the night of December 6th.
- The lake was completely covered with ice on January 6, 2016 but an area opened up again a few days later and didn’t completely refreeze until January 14, 2016
- The lake froze over completely on December 4, 2019 and on the morning of December 11 a significant portion had reopened as the result of 50°+ temperatures and over 1″ of rain. It refroze the next day, December 12th and mostly reopened on December 15th again as the result of warm temperatures and heavy rainfall. Stay tuned!
- I expected the lake to freeze long before December 19th, but there’s been a lot of water moving through the lake this fall and it’s retarded the formation of ice. We’ve also seen a lot of late-season rain which likely kept the lake water warm enough to prevent freezing. Update: 12/25/2020 Merry Christmas. A good part of the lake has melted off due to warm temperatures and heavy rain. Refrozen as of 1/1/2021.