Swimming in ice rinks and kayaking in December: A memorable, unseasonable Christmas
MINNEAPOLIS — Record-high temperatures on Christmas made for a memorable holiday. Instead of ice skating, sledding and spending time in the snow, many families pivoted to other plans as rain fell for most of the day.
The constant rainfall and warm weather melted what was left of a thin layer of ice on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. The city has yet to be able to open any of its outdoor rinks due to the weather,
Near Fargo, North Dakota, drivers had a tough time navigating on icy roads Christmas morning. Kiley Holmstrom and her fiancé tried to drive from Fargo to Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, but had to turn around due to the poor conditions.
"Everyone started slipping and sliding. We saw a truck and trailer completely jackknife in front of us. Which was very, very scary!" Holmstrom said.
What should have been a 45 minute drive, turned into two-and-a-half hours.
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"We were hoping for a white Christmas and this is what we got. So I'm a little disappointed, but we still got to hang out with family, so I can't complain too much," she said.
A family in Breezy Point shared video of them jumping into cold water in their bathing suits and Santa hats. Meanwhile, a few people tried kayaking in Little Canada on the open water.
"It's almost like a normal, early fall day. Very different," Matt Crosby in River Falls said.
Instead of spending time on his backyard ice rink in River Falls, Crosby spent time in it, floating on a snow tube in the water.
"I think there's a lot of people in the area that have these, and they are just looking at a pond of water right now instead of a pond of ice," Crosby said.
"It's just completely insane for the end of December to be like this," Holmstrom said.