It’s official! Just as we were waking up from ringing in the New Year, the Wisconsin State Climatology Office declared January 1, 2026 as the date that Lake Mendota officially froze for the 2025/26 winter season. Here at the CFL it’s hard to feel like winter has truly begun until the last of Madison’s lakes …
Yesterday evening as sunset was casting a rosy pink band of light across the frozen surface of Lake Monona near Olbrich Park, two people skated across its newly frozen surface. This morning, a semi-frozen Lake Mendota offered flocks of Canada geese, mallards and mergansers rippling open waters to swim in punctuated by long stretches of …
Just yesterday, Alice Ogden-Nussbaum, the Center for Limnology’s lead research technician on our long-term ecological monitoring project, headed out to the middle of Lake Mendota to collect some routine data on conditions in the lake. Alice is used to lowering limnology’s oldest tool, the Secchi disk, into the water and having the plate-sized, black and white disk …
by Madelyn Anderson – “Water child.” That’s what my parents called me growing up in the land of 10,000 lakes, where they often found me exploring our local creeks, rivers, and waterfalls. The actual name they gave me is Madelyn Anderson and I am a rising senior at UW-Madison studying Life Sciences Communication and Environmental …
The following is the Center for Limnology’s response (published Sunday, February 18) to a disheartening letter to the editor of the Wisconsin State Journal that proclaimed our lakes “dead” and declared it was time to give up on them. Needless to say, we did not agree! Adam Hinterthuer, Grace Wilkinson and Hilary Dugan 2/18/24 – The recent letter …
by Anna Mueller – I showed up at the Center for Limnology’s Hasler Lab a few hours after the sun had risen and it was already getting hot. I was sweaty from biking to work and could feel the sun burning against my hair. Like any other day, I walked around the squat CFL building …
Calling all lake lovers! (Or wetland enthusiasts, river runners, pond explorers, etc.) This Friday, June 21st, you’re invited to Hasler Lab’s Annual Open House. Each summer we pick a Friday afternoon to open the doors to our lab so that anyone in town can come learn about the world-class research going on right here in …
For fans of ice fishing, ice skating, cross-country skiing and just enjoying a winter walk, this holiday season was especially timely. One year ago today, Lake Mendota was still making waves and waiting on its annual ice cap. This winter, however, Madison’s biggest lake received a literal Christmas present – the Wisconsin State Climatology Office …
When Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin froze over a few days after New Year’s Eve, it marked the beginning of “ice season,” a time of year when (once the ice gets thick enough, of course) the iconic bodies of water in this lake-rich city suddenly become host to a variety of outdoor pursuits. Winter is …
For those of us lucky enough to live where our lakes freeze in the winter, one of the true joys of the season is getting out on the ice. Suddenly, a space that was only available for the boat owners among us becomes available to anyone who lives near its shores. This winter, in particular, …