Ice on the rivers and lakes in Saskatchewan is getting more unstable by the day. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Ice Ice Safety

Parkland Ambulance, fire department encourage caution as rivers and lakes thaw

Mar 29, 2022 | 12:00 PM

A long string of days where the temperatures rose above zero last week got rid of quite a bit of snow. While it may not be apparent at a glance, they would’ve done some work melting ice on large bodies of water as well.

While all ice fishers south of Highway 16 only have another two days to get their shacks off the ice, as per provincial regulations, ice on lakes and rivers is already getting thinner with signs of the melt visible on the river in Prince Albert.

“You’ll notice probably around the pillar bases of the bridges you’ll start to see some water appearing,” said Lyle Karasiuk, director of public affairs for Parkland Ambulance. “Obviously the ice is starting to thin up a little bit. We’re going to need a lot more sunshine and a lot warmer temperatures to really start to melt the big pieces of ice.”

As for smaller bodies of water like dugouts, sloughs, and skating ponds, the melt has already set in. Even if you don’t drill down into the ice to measure the thickness, there are some visible signs that ice may not be safe to walk on.

“There’s water on top of the surface, it looks clearer, it looks slushy,” said Karasiuk. “It may look grey or discoloured. Certainly, as temperatures rise, it’s more likely to see more thinning of the ice. The smaller bodies have already started to thin.”

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The largest bodies of water, the northern lakes, will take the longest to thaw, but the time is quickly coming where ice fishers will need to call it a season.

“We think specifically of the river here in Prince Albert, but we have all of our northern lakes, and we have all the people that go ice fishing up north,” said Alex Paul, deputy fire chief of Prince Albert. “They just need to be aware that the ice is starting to rot, it’s becoming thinner.”

Once the meltdown begins in earnest, even seemingly thick ice will become dangerous to walk on. The forecast from Environment Canada calls for temperatures above zero most days this week, and by early next week it will be sunny and above zero almost throughout the day.

“The river ice is very unpredictable because, as we know, there’s a flowing current under there all the time so there’s no guarantee that ice that was safe today (will be) safe tomorrow,” said Paul.

Monday of next week, the forecast calls for a high of 9 C.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP