Frozen Lakes Turn Deadly In Mild Winter

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A 51-year-old man in Maine died trying to save his young son from the icy waters of a pond near their home.

Kevin Howell, a local town manager, and his 4-year-old fell through ice on the pond while they were out for a walk on a recent Friday morning.

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“Howell was able to get his son out of the water and onto the ice, and told him to get his mother,” according to the Sheriff’s Office in Penobscot County, Maine, where the incident happened.

“The mom told the young boy to stay at home, she called 911, and she rushed to help her husband. On her way, she grabbed an anchor and rope and ran down to the water.”

She fell through the ice, too.

About the same time, a sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene.

“Seeing the wife in the water, he began crawling across the treacherous ice, holding onto the rope, and was able to pull the mother out of ice and get her to shore,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

Kevin Howell’s body was recovered several hours later.

Mild Winter Makes Ice Even More Dangerous

Howell’s death is the latest of several across the country related to ice on lakes or ponds, as much of the country experiences an unusually mild winter.

“We had record warmth in December, so many northern lakes took much longer than usual to freeze over,” weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman said.

(M​ORE: What You Need to Know to be Prepared For Snow, Ice And More)

Cold outbreaks in mid-January quickly brought ice to unfrozen patches on smaller lakes.

But that didn’t last long.

“Some may have believed lake ice was quite thick just after the cold,” Erdman said. “But it has likely degraded during this prolonged thaw.”

Temperatures are likely to remain warmer than average in many places through early February.

“With no immediate end in sight to the warmth, it's best to assume local ice conditions may be unsafe,” Erdman said.

When Is Ice Safe To Walk On?

Frozen waterways, including lakes and ponds, should never be considered 100% safe, according to the National Weather Service.

Anyone venturing onto ice should measure it as they go.

(​MORE: Will El Niño Help Deliver A Strong Northeast Winter Storm This February?)

According to guidelines from the NWS and other government agencies:

-Ice needs to be at least 4 inches thick to walk or fish on.

-It needs to be at least 5 inches thick for ice skaters.

-You need at least 6 inches for snowmobiling, at least 9 inches for cars and at least a foot for medium trucks.

-Ice that appears dark gray to black is melting and cannot hold weight.

-​White ice is also weak, because it includes a layer of frozen snow versus frozen water.

-Stick to ice that is clear or blue – it’s the strongest as long as it meets the thickness criteria.

An Entire Community Is Grieving

By all accounts, Howell was an experienced winter outdoorsman.

He was a member of the local snowmobile club. An official biography on the website of the rural community of Carmel, where Howell was town manager, notes that his spare-time pursuits included “enjoying the outdoors with his wife and son including skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ATV trail riding, boating, fishing and hiking."

Howell’s wife is named Katie. Their son is Sawyer.

Daniel Frye, chair of Carmel’s elected town board, told the Portland Press Herald that the entire community is grieving.

“Kevin was a wonderful, wonderful guy,” Frye said.

“He was so proud of Sawyer.”

Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.