The Outhouse Daily News Presents
Canoe Lake Ice-Out
Spring 2003 Edition
Buffalo Point Vahram Haroutiun, 2000
News & Updates
It's all but gone. Yes, we got here just in time again this year. When we arrived at the P-Store at about noon there was significant ice coverage on the lake, but also a strong north wind blowing. We were able to get across to the cottage in the boat and by the time we got over and unloaded the lake was clearly opening up fast. Now it's well beyond the 50% open required to call the official ice out date as today.
Congratulations to Jan Richmond and Al Clare of Canoe Lake (and Florida) who are this year's winners. (Nice to keep it in the 'family' :-)
Here are a couple of pics taken today--a very cold and bleak one up here. I'll post more tonight--right now we're going out to tour the lake and watch the last of the ice go.
Well, it looks like ice-out has begun. Libby has sent some new photos taken today and the Oxtongue River between Tea and Bonita lakes is starting to open up for real. This is our route up to Canoe Lake and I'd say it will be completely open in another couple of days. After that, Canoe Lake could take anywhere from a day or two up to four or five days depending on the weather.
So at this point I'd say we're going to see the ice go out between April 24th and April 30th. Here are Libby's latest photos...
It wouldn't be ice-out time without a poem from Murray... here's this year's:
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This winters been long
Unlike the spring in 1953
On April 14th, that glorious year,
Another good event, |
The latest date
We hope it rains,
My prediction this year,
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The deadline for submitting a date passed at midnight last night and we have stopped accepting new dates, or changes to current choices. And we are now seriously underway with today's high in Toronto forcast at 28°C!
The deadline for submitting a date is only 2 ½ hours away--at midnight tonight we will stop accepting new dates, or changes to current choices.
We have an on-site correspondent this year... Libby and Ric von Neumann live year-round on the Oxtongue between Tea and Bonita and Libby has sent some digital photos of the area taken this Saturday. Many thanks!
"Here are a few shots for you...hope they are what you're looking for. Hopefully tomorrow we'll take a ride to the P-store and see what's up over there... maybe get some shots of Smoke too. I heard a nasty rumor that we're supposed to get more snow on Monday! Winter just doesn't want to leave this year! We just had 3 gorgeous days in a row with temps above 12 and crystal clear, but freezing every night...the saga continues!"
We've heard from 42 people so far, and almost 25% of them think the ice will go out in the three days from April 29 - May 1. Only five more days until the deadline so get your date while you can.
Temperatures seem to be inching up closer to normal values in Toronto which for this time of year is still pretty cool ranging from a low of -1°C to a high of only 9°C. Consistent above-zero temperatures and some rain should get things started, but probably not soon enough for Ric and Libby von Neumann who picked today as their ice out date :-)
Looks like this site has been mentioned on another board. Check out this thread on the Canadian Canoe Routes website.
I think this is the first year I have received date selections from people I don't know. Most of them seem to have come as a result of this posting on Barry Bridgeford's Algonquin Adventures message boards.
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I have already received almost 30 votes for dates ranging from April 10th to May 10th. Keep them coming, and good luck to everyone. For those of you who think the ice will be going out next week--yes, there are some--here is what it looks like outside my window right now in Toronto... |
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It's been a long winter--no question. But I think we are finally seeing the end of it. I hope you will all accept my apologies for such a late start to this year's poll. I usually like to have something posted by mid-March and I'm a couple of weeks late this year.
I made a trip up to Canoe Lake on the weekend of March 14-16 with Debbie, my Mom, and our niece Brittany (Larkin's daughter). We had a great time with wonderful weather and a visit from Dave Sharp and Roy Stewart.
There was more snow this year than in recent memory, and the ice was as thick as ever. Here are a couple of shots to give you an idea...
With temperatures in Toronto hovering around normal for this time of year (which is lower than you might think, ranging from a low of -2°C to a high of only 7°C), and a lot more snow insulating the ice, I'm predicting an average-to-late ice out this year. At this stage I'd guess some time between April 26th and May 2nd.
Current Weather for the Canoe Lake Area
from Environment Canada, and some long term predictions:
- Algonguin Park
- Huntsville
- Long term (3 month) temperature and precipitation forecasts for Canada. (There are lots of interesting long term weather forecasts and records at Environment Canada.)
Predictions for Spring 2003
Multiple people on the same date are listed in the
order in which their choices were received
at the worldwide headquarters of the Outhouse Daily News.
(The previous year's ice-out date is marked with an asterix.)
| April 10 (Thu) | Ric & Libby von Neumann |
| April 11 (Fri) | |
| April 12 (Sat) | |
| April 13 (Sun) | |
| April 14 (Mon) | |
| April 15 (Tue) | Scott Murray |
| April 16 (Wed) | Ray VanKleef |
| April 17 (Thu) | Willi Powell |
| April 18 (Fri) | James Bonney |
| April 19 (Sat)* | The Ottawa Grays; Karin Martindale; Scott Simmie |
| April 20 (Sun) | Brian Parkinson |
| April 21 (Mon) | Bryan Fullerton |
| April 22 (Tue) | Cal Chapman |
| April 23 (Wed) | Jan Richmond & Al Clare |
| .................... | .................... |
| April 24 (Thu) | Peter Matthews |
| April 25 (Fri) | John Rose; James Kempf |
| April 26 (Sat) | Carolyn & David Fink |
| April 27 (Sun) | Debbie Ridpath Ohi; Jim & Catherine Brackley; Clark Matthews |
| April 28 (Mon) | Jefferson Ridpath; Kaarel Truuvert; Charles Plant |
| April 29 (Tue) | Virginia Ridpath; Arline Mann (New York City) |
| April 30 (Wed) | John Ridpath; Tony Anderson; Dick Erickson; Paul Weaver; Bill St. Arnaud; Russ Matthews; Steve Baker |
| May 1 (Thu) | Sandra Matthews; Doug Gardner; Ken Born; Hugh Statten; Murray Wolff |
| May 2 (Fri) | Craig White |
| May 3 (Sat) | Helen Waters (London, England); Holly Stewart; Jill Matthews |
| May 4 (Sun) | Karen Yule; Dean Purcell |
| May 5 (Mon) | Dave Sharp; Sarah Matthews |
| May 6 (Tue) | Missy Sharp |
| May 7 (Wed) | Barry Bridgeford; Nick Boland; Mark Steele; Andrew Gullen; David DeMara |
| May 8 (Thu) | Gay Matthews |
| May 9 (Fri) | Chris Day (Cache Lake) |
| May 10 (Sat) | Harry Binswanger (New York City) |
Past Ice-Out Dates
| 1953! | April 14th |
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| … | … | |
| 1989 | May 4th | |
| 1990 | April 29th | |
| 1991 | April 28th | |
| 1992 | May 8th | |
| 1993 | April 26th | |
| 1994 | April 27th | |
| 1995 | April 15th | |
| 1996 | May 8th | |
| 1997 | May 8th | |
| 1998 | April 17th | |
| 1999 | April 20th | |
| 2000 | April 26th | |
| 2001 | April 23rd | |
| 2002 | April 19th | |
| 2003 | ||
| 2004 | ||
| 2005 |
Latest recorded ice-out date: May 8th in 1992, 1996, and 1997.
The Rules
- All entries must be received by midnight, Monday, April 14th, 2003.
(Entries may be submitted by email to Jeff) - If you know of someone who should be included in this poll but does not have email access, feel free to send in their prediction for them.
- Entry must include your name and date of your prediction.
- You *can* duplicate another person's prediction (see below for a list
of predictions so far)
if you really want to be a joiner, but the first one to pick a date gets all the gloating rights. - You *can* change your prediction up to the deadline.
- Ice-out is defined as follows: "At least 50% of the lake is clear
of ice, by a majority vote
of those present." - Winner is the person whose prediction is the closest.
- Prize: being able to lord your superior knowledge of the lake over
others for
the rest of the year.
Previous year's ice-out pages
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[Updated: 2003-04-23 3:10 PM EDT] |
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