Of what i know right now johnson is open, robinson is open, clear lake is half open, and then there is another lake right by robinson and clear and starts with an A and i looked to be half open also

That would be Armstrong Lake.

Strong wind yesterday, strong wind today, strong wind tomorrow. Good!

Big chunks of ice are breaking off the ice pack and moving across the bay on Birch - right into my dock! Looks like most will be gone today but at a price.

For those wishing to read the tea leaves and chicken entrails of Burntside ice out, here are some fresh data points. There is good news and there is bad news. First the good:

1. The rain yesterday knocked down all the remaining snow on the surface of the ice and we should get good sun absorption from now on.
2. The open water at the mouth of the Tamarack river has extended another 100 feet or so into the lake. And the wind kept that opening ice free overnight.
3. There appears to be quite a bit of open water on the south facing shoreline of Birch Island and all around the sea gull islands in the bay.
4. And best of all, I was pleasantly surprised to find 3 ot 5 feet of open water at the base of our hill on the north facing shoreline. That is very good.

As to bad news:
1. It was cold enough last night to put a skim of ice on that open water by our north facing shoreline that lasted until now (almost noon), and the forecast is for a low of 25 again tonight.
2. There are still snow drifts on our path to the lake, the deepest about two feet.
3. There are no signs of candling of the ice, and the ice won't go out until it candles. This means, for example, that the ice still holds the biggest rock I can throw onto it.

So there you have it. There is hope for the opener, but we need some warm weather help next week. And for those keeping track the lake levels are about the highest I have seen them. Hans

Thanks, Hans. That's a fine and detailed report.

The forecast has changed a bit, too. After today, it looks cloudy with some chance of rain (from 20 to 40 percent chances) and with highs in the 40s and 50s until Wednesday. Wednesday is the first day forecast for sunny skies and highs in the 60s.

Here's the extended forecast from the NWS for Ely leading up to opener:

This Afternoon: Mostly sunny, with a high near 48. Northwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. West wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.

Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming northwest. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.

Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.

Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. West wind around 5 mph.

Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.

Tuesday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.

Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Thursday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.

Thursday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Friday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.

Just got back from looking at the lakes

Miners: has about 8-10 feet of open water at the landing

Shag: 10-15 feet of open water at main landing and on east end of the lake the bay is open infront of the shag river and ice looks to be very weak and is very dark. there are a few small pockets in the middle

Little Long: about 10 feet of open water from shore, ice looks to be pretty strong there

White Iron: west landing off of Hwy 1 is open water as far as i could see across lake

Birch Lake: landing off of Hwy 1 is open water as far as i could see across lake

Fall Lake: landing is completly open as far as i could see across and boats were out there today

Garden Lake: landing off of the fernberg is completly open and lake is open as far as i could see across and had a boat out there

Farm Lake: Iced over but very weak and dark looks like its ready to go

All those lakes looked to be anywhere from 2-4 feet higher than last fall. All of the landings i couldnt even walk down the shore.

Hope this helps some people

So if I were to come up for opener to hang out with my uncle, and wanted to throw a line in there's open water on Fall? Nice

As of 6:30 this evening the ice is gone from the west end of Birch Lake - wouldn't have believed it 4 days ago!

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=s&page=1


Take a look at this link. When the clouds are not in the way you can make out some of the iced lakes pretty well. Definitely a lot of change from April 30th to today.

My uncle said the ice went off of pike bay on lake vermilion today.

Anyone have ice conditions on pauness or loon lake?

STF, Al and Kelly were on Basswood today. The Prarie side is locked up and Jackfish is solid. That's all I know.

Bwahahaha, it's snowing as I write this.

Yeah, buddy, big fat flakes! Kinda how the "spring" has gone, eh?

Looks like Shag probably will go out before opener. Ice is all dark and lots of opening and honeycombing. Burntside? Doesn't look likely.

It didn't stick around this time

That is a good sign that spring might actually be here.