View topic - Freeze-up - how late is late? E.g. for Algonquin

I am curious. Looking at the weather forecast and still seeing well above zero (for the low too) into mid-December for Huntsville and Parry Sound. Looks like freeze up for 2015 might not happen til 2016

I have seen charts of ice-out dates for Canoe Lake and Opeongo, but what about freeze-up? Just wondering how late is late.

I know that many conditions affect ice thickness but... with a late freeze-up and mild winter and below average precipitation predicted.... ... darn it I just got new snowshoes too!

APP's webcam seems to show a small lake frozen solid white while the Lake of Bays webcam on Bigwin Island still shows open water.... Lake of Bays is a very large lake..

In normal years in the Bancroft area, snowmobile tracks don't start showing until January. Skiing on snowmobile tracks is great along with the added insurance the snowmobile has gone ahead and tested the ice (unless the tracks end in a big hole in the ice, that might be a sign not to go any further).

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lol i have no problem letting the snowmobilers go first! It will be a while though, +6 here today, bits of rain here and there, still +8 by mid December. I would say the APP webcam is playing a mean trick on you! Nothing frozen up here. Does it count as "first freeze-up" if it freezes briefly overnight and is then open the next day I wonder?

Our cottage is about 30 minutes south of Bancroft. Traditionally we don't count on getting across the ice until after New Years. Last year we were up the week before Christmas and had about 6" of ice. Standard rules are a minimum of 4" to walk on, so 6" was comfortable to get out to the island. December last year was colder than usual and even then we had a backup plan if we couldn't have gotten out to our place.

If we head up before Christmas this year, I'll probably be taking a canoe along.

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I am not sure that the 'snowmobile went first, therefore it is ok" technique is foolproof. Last winter we were following well used tracks on thick ice. We came to a place (near the shore) where fast-moving snowmobiles were able to cross a short bit of thin ice. It was too scary for slow-moving old guys to venture on. I am sure that if a machine had stopped there, it would have broken through. I think that a small creek or spring was supplying warmer water and keeping the ice thin.

Ok I might have found what I'm after - a database that includes ICE-IN dates, but... I can't access the data!

You can download the canadian lake ice database:
https://www.ccin.ca/home/ccw/lakeice/links

But it is a .mdb file and I don't have a database program like Access to open it!

Or you can view submitted observations at Icewatch but my registration activation email is not arriving boohoo :
https://www.naturewatch.ca/icewatch/
(click on Menu then Download Data).

You can find "live" (up to 24 hour delay) satellite imagery here:

https://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldvi ... 3798828125

This link should show you the Algonquin area on December 10th 2014.

Two problems of course, clouds get in the way and when a lake turns white you only know it's ice covered but not if it's safe to travel on.

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