Lake Pepin Ice Measurements To Begin February 13

The St. Paul Engineer District announced February 4 that it would begin its ice measurements of Lake Pepin on February 13. The district takes the measurements annually to forecast the navigational outlook on the Upper Mississippi River. Lake Pepin, the widest naturally-occurring part of the Mississippi River, is located between the Minnesota cities of Red Wing and Wabasha. Measurements taken here give the best outlook as it is the last segment in the navigation channel in which winter ice will break up.

A Corps survey crew uses an airboat and a global positioning system to collect the data. The information is used by the navigation industry to predict when it’s safe to break through the ice and begin the 2019 navigation season.

Historically, the average date in which navigation is open occurs during the third week of March.

Normally, ice measurements are completed weekly or biweekly until the navigation season begins. The data will be posted on the St. Paul District’s website.