In the sort-of-official sign that real winter has arrived in New Hampshire, “ice-in” has been declared on Lake Winnipesaukee.

The Jan. 13 declaration was the earliest this event has happened since 2018 and follows two warm winters that almost didn’t have ice-in at all. Last year’s declaration on Feb. 9 was the latest on record dating back decades.

Dave Emerson of Emerson Aviation in Gilford makes the call each year, signifying that the five ports visited by the M/S Mount Washington are covered with ice. It doesn’t mean the entire lake is frozen, which seldom happens.

Ice-in was declared on Jan. 3 in 2018, relatively early. Emerson Aviation has been declaring “ice-out” since the late 1960s but only began declaring “ice-in” more recently.

Now the question is the fate of the other major ice-related Lake Winnipesaukee event: The Alton Bay Ice Runway. This is the only FAA-certified ice runway in the Lower 48 states and it didn’t open at all in the past two winters because the ice never got thick enough.