Winnipesaukee Ice-Out Continues Trending Earlier Amid Climate Change

This week's ice-out on Lake Winnipesaukee is part of a trend toward earlier spring thaws in New Hampshire due to climate change.

The lake was declared ice-free and navigable by boat on Monday, April 5. It's about two weeks earlier than the averageice-out date over the past hundred-plus years.

That's the shift toward earlier ice-outs that a state report confirmed for the first time last year.

Much of the change has happened since the 1980s, in the same period as planet-warming carbon emissions have skyrocketed.

Lake Winnipesaukee's earliest recorded ice-out was March 18, 2016. That was also the hottest year ever recorded on earth.