Thanksgiving Week

November 20th through 26th

There was quite an inventory to be thankful for last week and the non-freezing weather has to be at the top of that list. It would be a stretch to call it warm, but there were no piles of snow, no glaciers of ice, no freezing wind, and ice-in on Lake Lucerne wasn't even close.

There was golf! The greens were slow and the flags were gone. Patches of the fairways were frozen. That lead to some great rolls on drives.

The water hazards were only perilous if you ice fish them.

The bumpers on 6 have been keeping low slices off Hwy 8 since late October.

Some of the greens were a little pale.

The temperature of the lake hovered around 40℉. This won't grow much ice, but it doesn't seem to attract many swimmers and skiers either.

At the start of last week, there was some ice in the corners. This was judged to be more of an artifact of a cold opening weekend of deer hunting than a sign of an imminent freeze over.

Just over the hill to the east, Devils Lake is ice covered.

Further to the east, Lakes Wabikon and Riley are both frozen over.

To the West, Lake Metonga is even more open than Lucerne.

All last week, a large flock of Mergansers has been taking advantage of Lucerne's openness.

Above those ducks soared a flock of 5(!) eagles. They kept the space between them great enough to make a photo of all five just a collection of dots on a blue/gray sky.

Some have less trouble getting Thanksgiving dinner ready than others.

The ice in the corners of the lake shrank to almost nothing after Thanksgiving day.

Three and four years ago, at this time in November, Lake Lucerne was frozen over. Not this year. A good week long arctic blast could ice it up this week (unlikely) or continued un-cold could keep it open for the rest of the year (also unlikely). It was dry last week. The lake level continues to hover between 20 and 21 inches above the nail. There are reports that this Winter is gonna be a wet one. If that proves true, some cabins might be houseboats come Spring. Our understanding is that if these cabinboats are propelled by oar you're fine, but if you plan on putting a motor on 'em, you'll need to register them with the DNR. We guess that you'd put the registration numbers and sticker over the fire number.<br><br>-Nemo: Thankful for a green Thanksgiving, hoping for a white Christmas.