Expert Forecast: When Will Popular Minnesota Lakes See Ice-Out In 2025?

While Minnesota hasn't seen a ton of snow and has experienced plenty of warm days through our winter, our ice conditions were still certainly quite better than they were last winter.

That doesn't mean there weren't any people or vehicles that fell through the ice. We still had incidents and some stretches of warm weather that presented challenges to ice anglers and others who wanted to spend time on Minnesota's frozen lakes during the winter season.

That said, things were thankfully at least generally better than last year. As we get toward the end of the season, you might be wondering when we might see ice-out on lakes across Minnesota.

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Some lakes in Southern Minnesota have already reported ice-out, including lakes like Cottonwood Lake in Cottonwood, Swan Lake near Nicolet, Cannon Lake near Fairbault, and Elysian Lake near Janesville.

While predicting ice-out dates is a difficult practice with a lot of variables, experts at the University of Minnesota have developed a tool to attempt to factor in all of those variables and offer a reasonable forecast for ice-out on lakes across the state.

READ MORE: Earliest ice-out dates ever recorded on Minnesota lakes

The forecast uses National Weather Service data, weather trends for the location of each lake across the state, snow depth, and other factors.

Here's a look at some of Minnesota's most popular lakes and when they are currently forecasted to see ice-out in the spring of 2025.

Popular Minnesota Lakes Forecasted Ice-Out Dates Spring 2025

It is worth noting that these forecast dates can change if we suddenly get a cold snap or a bunch of snow. But as of this article's publish date, here are the forecasted ice-out dates:

Lake Waconia: Ice-out Imminent

Lake Minnetonka: Ice-out Imminent

Lake Minnewaska: Ice-out Imminent

Gull Lake (Crow Wing County): April 6, 2025

Pelican Lake (Crow Wing County): April 6, 2025

Lake Miltona: April 6, 2025

Otter Tail Lake: April 7, 2025

Mille Lacs Lake: April 8, 2025

Lake Bemidji: April 12, 2025

Cass Lake: April 13, 2025

Leech Lake: April 14, 2025

Lake Winnibigoshish: April 14, 2025

Lake Vermilion: April 21, 2025

Lake Kabetogama: April 26, 2025

Red Lake: April 27, 2025

Rainy Lake: April 27, 2025

Lake of the Woods: April 30, 2025