Rain and above freezing temperatures has put a damper on outdoor skating rinks causing delays to the start of broomball and hockey leagues. Skating outdoors on lakes, ponds, and man-made rinks is a tradition as old as Minnesota itself.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board oversees 44 rinks in 22 locations. Tens of thousands of people use these rinks every year.
But there's a dilemma right now. No ice!
"Rain and everything we had the last few days doesn't help," says Minneapolis Park and Recs Board Director Larry Umphrey. "The ground's not really frozen. We need some cold weather."
How much cold weather exactly?
"Ten days of lows in the teens or lower and highs in the uppper twenties at the highest," Umphrey explains.
And for those seeking an alternative, Umphrey issues a warning.
"We do have a couple of skating rinks that are built on lakes, and I would ask people to exercise extreme caution as lake ice is not safe right now," says Umphrey.
The weather hasn't just been warm, it also rained. A lot. And that makes ice even worse.
"It takes a couple of weeks of cold," says Umprey. "We have to have the ground frozen, we have to get a base. But it's not extremely rare for us not to be open December 26th, but it's extremely rare for us to be in the situation we are now."
Broomball and other leagues starting in early January have been delayed, but no cancellations so far.
Temperatures are supposed to top out in the 30s the rest of this week and moderate slightly the first week of January, not really cold enough to build up significant ice. The long range guidance for January still points to above average temperatures as well.