SKATING ON THIN ICE

It's too early and too warm to drive on iced over lakes.

That's the message from local and state officials as mild winter temperatures have led to several vehicles breaking through the ice already this season.

Kandiyohi County hasn't had any ice-related accidents so far this winter. Officials want to keep it that way. They are hoping that people will keep their cars and trucks off the ice until it is thick enough.

"We caution people not to drive on the lakes," Sheriff Dan Hartog said. "The ice is not that consistent."

While portable ice houses have popped up on most lakes around Kandiyohi County, the ice conditions aren't great right now.

Willmar DNR Conservation Officer Jim Steffen said that conditions around the county are poor.

"It's pretty marginal out there," he said. While he's seen people driving ATVs and snowmobiles on the ice, he said the ice can be questionable in areas.

"It can go from four and five inches to two pretty quick," he said.

He said automobiles should absolutely not be on the ice right now.

Steffen recommends that people who are going to be out on the ice buy a pair of ice picks, a tool you can wear comfortably around you neck that will help you to get out of the water if you fall in. They are available at most sporting goods stores.

"They can save your life," he said.

Around the state, the warm conditions have led to some close calls.

Chris Kiesner was fishing in his ice house on Prior Lake when he heard someone yell, "There it goes."

Kiesner, 28, of Prior Lake, lost his pickup truck to the thin ice on the suburban lake on Monday. He said Tuesday that he blamed the problem on too many people parking on the same spot. He had company. Scott Lever, 54, of Savage, had parked his pickup on the ice near the shore of Prior Lake on Monday, but returned to find it partly submerged. He got into the truck with hopes of driving it out.

"That's when the ice cracked more, and the front end went down and hit the bottom," Lever said Tuesday.

Their vehicles were among at least six -- five of them trucks -- that went into the drink on Monday as the ice on Minnesota lakes thinned out due to the current warm spell. And other vehicles have broken through in recent days.

The splashes happened in Chisago County just north of the Twin Cities and even in Koochiching County of far northern Minnesota, as well as in Eau Claire County in northwestern Wisconsin. No injuries have been reported.

In Northern Minnesota, too, the ice isn't thick enough. The Koochiching County Sheriff's Office has barricaded vehicle access roads to Rainy Lake on the Canadian border. Deputy Gary Jensen said a snowmobile went through the ice there last Friday, and that anyone driving cars or trucks onto the lake will be ticketed, although all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles remain permitted.

Three pickups went through the ice Monday on West Rush Lake, all parked next to each other, Chisago County sheriff's Lt. Steve Pouti said.

In Eau Claire County, a truck went through the ice on Lake Eau Claire and another broke the ice on Lake Altoona, said sheriff's Capt. Ken Berg. County workers have barricaded the access points, Berg said.

"People have to use their common sense," Scott County Sheriff Dave Menden said Tuesday. "I think some of them think they are Jesus and they can walk on water."

"Keep your vehicles off the ice until it gets cold again (for) several days at least," advised Tim Smalley, DNR water safety specialist.

Jim Richardson, a meteorologist with the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service, is forecasting above-normal temperatures over the next week, with highs in the 30s during the day. That probably will keep ice from thickening, so metro lakes will remain treacherous.

Highs will be only in the 20s in the northern half of the state, starting Friday.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report