Global Warming Hits Lake Sakakawea In The Bakken Oil Patch; Roughnecks To Start Drilling Ice (Fishing)

The Minot Daily News is reporting:

Lake Sakakawea is rapidly approaching a complete freeze.

If the massive reservoir is officially declared frozen-over prior to Dec. 20, which appears to be a certainty, it will mark the shortest season of open water in the history of the state's largest body of water.

On Thursday, much of the reservoir was covered in ice but there was some open water, primarily in the area immediately above the dam. The water there is some of the deepest in all of Lake Sakakawea and is considered the last portion of the reservoir to freeze each year. From a nearby overlook leading to the dam's intake structure, engineers from the Garrison Dam power plant make daily observations of ice formations and remaining open water.

I grew up in North Dakota. This is an incredible story. I do not recall it ever being this cold this year in the winter. Our cold month was February. 

Ice fishing in North Dakota, Devils Lake