Oddly mild winter leaves much of U.S. on thin ice (Reuters)

CONWAY, Mass (Reuters) ? Unusually mild winter weather is spoiling the fun for hockey players, skaters and ice fisherman across the Northeast and Midwest as officials warn of uncommonly thin ice.

Fish and game officials in several northeastern states have issued advisories in recent days, saying ice conditions were unsafe on lakes where ice typically reaches 10 inches thick.

In Minnesota, officials warned ice was unreliable in the southern part of the state, where temperatures topped 60 degrees for the first time on record in the first week of January.

With no ice yet recorded on Lake Erie, organizers of Buffalo's public hockey tournament of 1,000 amateur players say they may have to cancel the February 10 event for the first time in its 5-year history.

An extraordinarily mild December and early January failed to deliver the cold needed to freeze most lakes and ponds.

Meteorologists say December temperatures in the region were the warmest in five years. Massachusetts recorded 12 days when the temperature was more than 10 degrees above normal, said Mark Paquette, meteorologist with AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania.

As a result, winter sports enthusiasts who flock to frozen lakes and ponds are at risk, said Lieutenant Robert Bryant of New Hampshire Fish and Game.

"We've had some tragedies over the years with ice skaters," Bryant said. "Ice fishermen tend to get close to their holes and stay in one place and skaters sometimes roam about."

Very little snow is on the ground in New England, so there is less concern snowmobilers will drive onto thin ice, Bryant said.

In stark contrast with last year's long, frigid winter in the Northeast, sturdy ice is lacking on bodies of water from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. At times, conditions in southern New England have seemed more favorable for a round of golf than outdoor ice hockey.

"There are areas where the ice has started to thicken over the open water. But it's still marginal at best, and not consistent," said Colonel David LeCours, Vermont's chief game warden.

LeCours's office, in an advisory last week, warned people to use good judgment and observe safety precautions before venturing onto the ice.

"My biggest concern is, if we do get a bit of cold, it can sometimes give people an unrealistic sense and they forget the ice has only been there a day or two," he said in a phone interview. "There may be only an inch or two of ice, or less, and they don't know it until it's too late."

Weak ice forms atop ponds or open water such as lakes when warming trends break down the surface, allowing the slush to refreeze. Gusty wind, which hammered the region last week, triggers wave action that further inhibits ice formation.

In general at least 6 inches of hard ice is needed to support one person on foot, and 8 to 10 inches of hard ice is needed for a snow machine or an all-terrain vehicle, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

In Minnesota, dozens of people have fallen through the ice this winter on foot, in cars, riding all-terrain vehicles and even an ice boat, said Tim Smalley, water safety specialist for the state department of natural resources.

Through Thursday the state had no ice-related fatalities. Four fatalities are recorded on average each year as even thick ice weakens under rising temperatures.

High temperatures reached into the 40s as far north as the border with Canada on Friday.

"It's getting soft," Smalley said. "The ice may be thick, but it is not as strong as it could be."

The icebox of the nation was melting this week, but at 18 inches thick the ice on International Falls, Minnesota, lakes was strong enough for most trucks to drive on. Forecasters expected temperatures to drop back below zero within a week.

"This truly is not the type of weather that creates winter playground conditions," International Falls Mayor Shawn Mason said in a telephone interview.

Mason said it was too early to worry about the warm front's impact on the city's Icebox Days winter festival that starts January 18 and includes a "Freeze yer Gizzard Blizzard Run."

In New Hampshire, some lakes and ponds have begun to freeze over, but officials are urging people to be patient and wait for solid ice. They should always check the thickness before going onto the ice, experts say.

In the western Massachusetts town of Conway, people created a make-shift ice rink by pumping water onto the town's outdoor tennis court. Several families took advantage of it for their first ice skating of the season on Thursday.

"This is pretty good, because you're outside," said Leslie Chaison, who was on the ice with friends and her 4-year-old daughter, Rosa. "But something about skating on a pond feels magical, as opposed to rink skating. Pond skating is the best."

(Additional reporting by Jason McLure in Littleton, N.H., Neale Gulley in Buffalo, and David Bailey in Chicago; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Daniel Trotta)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120106/us_nm/us_ice_warning

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