Variable breezes around Wizard Island create patterns on Crater Lake's surface on a sunny March afternoon. Despite cold winter temperatures and a high elevation, Crater Lake typically remains ice free throughout the winter. The depth and volume of the lake is too great to allow ice to form. Heat flow from the volcano itself is probably comparatively too small to be a significant factor in the lake remaining ice free. The last time Crater Lake froze over was in 1949 (NPS, 2001b).

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