Warm Lake Erie winter has unique twist on islands
PORT CLINTON, Ohio (WJW) — “Starting to run the ferry to the islands is abnormally early this year,” Miller Ferry owner Billy Market told Fox 8 News.
Market said the “very mild winter and almost no ice” means he’ll start making trips to the Lake Erie Islands on Saturday, March 2.
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Market said starting the ferry trips this weekend in nearly a month early.
Fox 8 Meteorologist Scott Sabol said this is Northeast Ohio’s third warmest winter on record, the least amount of ice on the Great Lakes since record-keeping began, and one of the least amount of ice on Lake Erie as well.
Some winters the ferry hasn’t started until nearly the second week of April due to “long winters with ice late into the season,” Market said.
Miller Ferry: Courtesy: Billy Market Courtesy: Billy Market Courtesy: Billy Market Courtesy: Billy Market
Topsy Turvey’s Bar & Grill is open, but Market said other pubs and restaurants have not opened yet.
He said while some tourists will take advantage of the early trips to Put-in-Bay and Middle Bass Island, the early start allows construction workers to get a head start on work and that residents and business can re-stock supplies ahead of schedule.
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For the Miller Ferry’s schedule that starts Saturday and ticket information, you can click here.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
