Presque Isle Bay went from wide open water on Sunday to developing a spreading cover of thin ice in just a couple of days.

The ice began forming quickly after the first frigid temperatures of the winter season hit the Erie region, dipping to single digits and even colder wind chills Wednesday morning.

Although ice is forming, Presque Isle State Park rangers back what the PA Fish and Boat Commission advises.  They say that ice should be at least 4 inches thick on the bay or local ponds and lakes, before people venture out for ice fishing or other activities.  "You want to avoid like downed trees because it's softer around downed trees, docks things of that nature, you just want to work your way out," said Bryan Hogan, Presque Isle State Park ranger supervisor.  "Use common sense. We don't monitor the ice here because it varies in different spots, you'll see the ice fishermen out there first, they're usually pretty good at monitoring and getting some decent thickness before they go out there."

On the lake side of Presque Isle State Park, the cold snap has created a dramatic scene. Pounding Lake Erie waves sprayed into the icy air, forming layer after layer of ice dunes along the beaches.

The process creates a mountainous looking landscape on the shore, but Ranger Hogan warns, it's not safe to walk on the dunes. "They'll start forming now because it's cold and it's splashing and the water's still a little bit about above freezing so, when that happens...the ice dunes can be very dangerous because they're usually hollow.  So if you break through you fall into...if it's over land you're lucky, but you can fall into shallow water which is near freezing."