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Ice on Lake Mendota on January 15, 2024, courtesy Robert Bertera

Cold overnight temperatures help Lake Mendota freeze, briefly

Ice on! Cold nighttime temperatures, combined with cold water and light winds, helped Lake Mendota officially freeze on December 25, 2024, as declared by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. Two days later, on December 27th, Lake Mendota reopened as high temperatures climbed well into the 40s. The largest lake in the Yahara Watershed froze for the first time in the 2024-2025 winter season just five days after December 20th, which is the median ice-on date for Lake Mendota. The latest date ice-on has been declared is January 30th, and that took place in 1932.

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Ice on Lake Mendota on January 15, 2024, courtesy Robert Bertera

January cold snap helps lake freeze

Ice on! Temperatures below zero, combined with cold water and low wind, helped Lake Mendota officially freeze on January 15, 2024, as declared by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. Lake Mendota, the largest lake in the Yahara Watershed, froze a full 26 days after December 20th, which is the median ice-on date for the largest lake in the Yahara River Watershed. The January 15th freeze is the 3rd latest freeze date since monitoring began over 170 years ago. The latest ice-on date is January 30th, and that took place in 1932.

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Fishing along Monona Bay

Out-of-town anglers drawn to downtown Madison lakes

Spend time walking along Lake Monona between Law Park and Brittingham Park, and you’ll notice anglers tossing lines from plenty of places. Unfortunately, there is a lack of accessible shoreline fishing locations. Folks fishing have to contend with hazards like the wall at the Monona Terrace or the railroad tracks…which are actually illegal to use for fishing. Still, the challenges of fishing on Lake Monona do not seem to stop diehard anglers from spending time doing what they love.

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2022 Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Download a pdf of the 2022 Clean Boats, Clean Waters Season Report

Overview

In 2022, Clean Lakes Alliance received a Wisconsin DNR Surface Water Grant to participate in the Clean Boats, Clean Waters (CBCW) program. CBCW is a state-wide aquatic invasive species (AIS) prevention program. The program increases awareness and education to boaters, anglers, and general lake users on best practices to prevent the further spread of AIS at our local boat landings. 

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View of Lake Mendota looking toward Picnic Point on December 25, 2022

Frigid air temperatures, combined with cold water and low winds, helped Lake Mendota officially freeze on December 25th, 2022. The declaration came from the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. Lake Mendota, the largest lake in the Yahara Watershed, froze five days after December 20th. December 20th is the median ice-on date for the largest lake in the Yahara River Watershed. The Christmas Day freeze date is over a month shy of January 30th – which is the latest date that ice-on has ever been declared (1/30/1932).

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Executive Residence 2022 - prior to restoration

Clean Lakes Alliance is proud to partner with the Wisconsin Executive Residence Foundation, along with other local organizations, to fund and implement a lakeshore restoration along 294 feet of Lake Mendota shoreline. Located at the iconic Executive Residence, the project will replace 7,184 square feet of existing turf with 32 species of native plants, wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs. In all, a total of 3,177 native plants will be added to the shoreline area!

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Aquatic plant transport barge on Lake Mendota

By Pete Jopke, Water Resources Planner with the Dane County Land & Water Resources Department
Article first published in the 2022 Greater Madison Lake Guide, a Clean Lakes Alliance publication

Aquatic plant harvesting on the Yahara lakes

The Dane County Land & Water Resources Department manages an aquatic plant harvesting program with much of the harvesting occurring on lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa. Occasionally, other smaller waterbodies are harvested to aid in recreation and invasive plant management. The program dates to the early 1980’s when five harvesters were in operation. In those years, harvests totaled over 300 tons of plant material. In 2021, the existing fleet of 12 harvesters recorded plant harvests of more than 12,000 tons!

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Lake Mendota frozen 7Jan2022

It’s official – Lake Mendota freezes over!

Temperatures below the freezing mark, combined with cold water, helped Lake Mendota officially freeze in the early morning hours on Friday, January 7, 2022. The official declaration comes from the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. Lake Mendota, the largest lake in the Yahara Watershed, froze 23 days shy of January 30th. The latest ice-on date ever declared was on January 30th, 1932.

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Lake Mendota looking toward Picnic Point

Ice-on date arrives days after the new year

Air temperatures below the freezing mark throughout the last week, combined with cold water helped Lake Mendota officially freeze on Sunday, January 3rd, 2021, as declared by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. Lake Mendota, the largest lake in the Yahara Watershed, froze 27 days shy of January 30th – which is the latest date that ice-on has ever been declared (1/30/1932).

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