(ABC 6 News) – Minnesota is set to have it’s warmest December on record this year averaging 32.3 degrees. With the average temperature hovering above freezing, many outdoor activities for this time of year have had to be put on hold.

This time of year people can typically be found out with family and friends snowmobiling, skiing or ice fishing, but the abnormal warmth is keeping many from doing so.

“This has definitely been an unusual winter,” said Nicole Biagi, Ice Safety Coordinator for the Minnesota DNR. “We say that every year, but it’s especially true this year that you can’t look at the calendar. You have to look at the weather conditions.”

Many lakes across the state have had little to no ice on them over the last month. Lake Zumbro is one of those lakes and barely has any ice on it right now. The Minnesota DNR has already had many calls across the state of people, their ATVS and ice houses cracking into lakes as they attempt to ice fish. Southeast Minnesota, has been at greater risks than the northern part of the state for people going out on the ice.

“That ice is not going to improve until we see several consecutive days of cold, cold days,” Biagi added. “So once we see that, we’ll see a new layer of clear, strong ice underneath and that’s what people need to wait for before they take out their ATVs.”

However, that isn’t stopping people from still trying to get out on the water any way they can.

Carter Schmitz is a student at Southwest Minnesota State University. He’s home for winter break and trying to make the most of his time with family and friends. With ice fishing off the table, his friends and family are getting experimental with him with what they can do on the water.

Their new trial idea; water skiing.

“Family’s been water skiing my whole life, we’ve been out here. I teach water skiing lessons all summer so I thought why not try it in December. The lake’s open. We’re going to try while it’s warm. Hopefully the sun comes out and we can get out there.”

While the weather forecast remains uncertain on when exactly it’ll be safe to ice fish again, the MNDNR is recommending people across southern Minnesota wait for the ice to get at least four inches deep and remain solid for at least three days before attempting to ice fish.