Red Lake 2016 ice-out could be near normal

Scenes like this at camp are probably still at least a month away

Hopes for a record-early ice-out are sagging with the current spate of below-normal temperatures that we are getting in Northwestern Ontario.
The mild El Nino winter had created only 20 inches of ice or less on the lakes. That was about half of the normal amount. This had been weighed down by early snowfalls that turned the entire sheet into a slushy mess.
Most of the winter saw very warm temperatures, even above-freezing ones in early to mid-March. It looked like the ice might disappear off the lakes by early April. But that has all gone by the wayside now.
Lots of the daytime highs in the forecast are in the negative digits, even negative double digits. We have gotten even more snow and that will insulate the ice from melting whenever it does warm up.
It's always the spring weather that determines time of ice-out and right now the spring weather sucks.
My guess? Ice-out won't come before May. Average ice-out on Red Lake is May 8 with norms one week either side of that. So, it is looking more and more like a normal ice-out.
Click to go back to our website
 Click to see the latest on the blog