Several cities close warming houses, stop ice maintenance due to warm weather

The unusually warm start to winter delayed the opening of many ice rinks and now it’s further affecting them.

Thursday, the city of Crystal announced that it will stop maintaining its ice rinks due to the warm weather in the forecast and will also close its warming houses for the season.

The latest forecast from Minnesota’s Weather Authority not only features high temperatures above freezing every day for the next week but a shot at record temps as high as 50 next week.

Golden Valley is also closing its warming houses and ice rinks starting at 8 p.m. Thursday. That announcement comes on the same day the city canceled Winterfest, which had been scheduled for Saturday, due to warm weather.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board decided to close its outdoor rinks as well, but there’s a chance they could reopen “if there is a significant change in the forecast.”

While winter still has plenty of time left to produce frigid temperatures, ice skaters may have to look to indoor rinks for the foreseeable future or take up puddle jumping.