Warm weather forces MPRB to temporarily close all outdoor rinks in Minneapolis

All of the nearly 50 outdoor rinks in Minneapolis are temporarily closed due to the weather.

“I can’t ever remember closing for rain in January,” said Larry Umphrey with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Umphrey says based on expected colder temps, they hope to open many of the land rinks by the end of the week.

“We can’t flood rinks when it is 33 degrees outside.  We need weather that’s in the 20s or teens so it freezes better,” he said.

Rinks on the city’s frozen lakes have faced even bigger challenges. For instance at Lake of the Isles, the ice isn’t thick enough for equipment to remove snow and construct a rink.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board maintains real-time status of all the city rinks.  For more information, check here.