Don't drive on the ice! Trucks breaking through.

Monday's News Tribune has an article about 2 different lakes, and vehicles breaking through the ice!:

Two trucks broke through ice on Duluth-area lakes over the weekend, including a pickup on Island Lake that sank in 30 feet of water. Authorities warned anglers not to drive on any lakes until it gets colder.

The Island Lake incident happened Saturday night with two men in the pickup at the time, authorities said. The men escaped, but the truck sank to the bottom and now must be recovered.

Island Lake is notorious for currents under the ice which can cause ice thickness to vary every few feet. While some areas now have more than a foot of ice, others might have just a few inches. And residents of the lake say ice thickness can change from day to day.

But temperatures above freezing and 10 to 20 degrees above normal in recent weeks have made ice on all Northland lakes suspect.

At Grand Lake on Sunday afternoon, another pickup broke through the ice, but only one wheel sank below the ice surface. There were only a few inches of ice in the area.

“The worst part about that one is the same guy went through the ice in the same spot with his ATV just a week before,” said Dale Ebel, Duluth area conservation officer for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. He thought it had been cold enough to make the ice thicker. But it’s been so warm that we’re actually losing ice.”

Ebel is warning anglers and others not to drive on any Northland lakes until the region receives several days of below zero temperatures. That could happen by this weekend, weather forecasters say. Officials say it takes a minimum of 12 inches of ice to support a car or light truck.

“I wouldn’t drive on any lake right now. I’ve been using the ATV and walking… and I’ve found some spots I the bays with just a couple inches of ice,’’ Ebel noted. “I wouldn’t drive a vehicle on Island Lake if you paid me. Ever.’’

You wouldn't catch me even walking out on a lake right now. This probably means the Big Jig ice fishing contest held on Duluth's Pike Lake is in jeopardy right now.