![\"Oakland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765979712_244_a.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nDecember 17, 2025 <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Jessica Mathews \/ news@whmi.com <\/p>\n
While frigid temperatures hit the local area and the state during the past few days, the Oakland County Sheriff\u2019s Office is reminding everyone not to be fooled as \u201cno lake ice is safe\u201d. <\/p>\n
Sheriff Mike Bouchard said \u201cThere is no ice that should be considered safe at this time. While all the lakes have a covering of ice, I urge residents to be extremely cautious. Ice thickness can be very deceiving as every lake freezes differently. Ice that is several inches thick in one area may be dangerously thin just a few feet away.\u201d <\/p>\n
The sheriff encouraged those who venture out on the ice to consider the following safety tips: <\/p>\n
\u2022 There is not a reliable “inch-thickness” to determine if ice is safe. <\/p>\n
\u2022 You can test ice thickness and quality using a spud, needle bar or auger. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Strongest ice: clear with bluish tint. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Weak ice: ice formed by melted and refrozen snow. Appears milky. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Stay off ice with slush on top. Slush ice is only half as strong as clear ice and indicates the ice is not freezing from the bottom. <\/p>\n
\u2022 A sudden cold front with low temperatures can create cracks within a half-day. <\/p>\n
\u2022 A warm spell may take several days to weaken ice and cause the ice to thaw during the day and refreeze at night. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Ice weakens with age. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Stronger the current on the lake, the more likely the ice will give to open water. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Avoid areas of ice with protruding debris like logs or brush. <\/p>\n
If you do break through the ice, remain calm. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Don’t remove winter clothing. Heavy clothes won’t drag you down but instead provide warmth. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Turn in the water toward the direction you came from, this is most likely the strongest ice. <\/p>\n
\u2022 If you have ice picks, dig the points of the picks into the ice while vigorously kicking your feet to pull yourself onto the surface by sliding forward on the ice. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Roll away from the area of weak ice. Rolling on the ice will distribute your weight to help avoid breaking through again. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Get to shelter and remove your wet clothing, redressing in warm, dry clothing and consume warm, non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverages as soon as you can. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Call 911 and seek medical attention if you feel disoriented, have uncontrollable shivering or have any other ill effects that may be symptoms of hypothermia, which is a life-threatening condition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"December 17, 2025 Jessica Mathews \/ news@whmi.com While frigid temperatures hit the local area and the state during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144,3844],"class_list":{"0":"post-98303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-oakland","9":"tag-oakland-headlines","10":"tag-oakland-news","11":"tag-whmi-radio-93-5-livingston-michigan-news-weather-traffic-sports-classic-rock-howell-brighton-fenton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}