Due to the extremely cold winter and the over 200 cm of snow the area received the Lake of Woods Ice Patrol isn’t expecting an early thaw on the lake this spring.
Tim Armstrong from the LOTW Ice Patrol says the current conditions currently on the lake are very similar to what was seen in 2018.
“We had a similar amount of winter cold this winter and in 2018 so the numbers look similar and satellite photographs look similar, said Armstrong. “I’d say we’re roughly on track to do a spring-like 2018.”
In 2018 the ice was 100 per cent gone by May 14, which Armstrong says is 10 days behind average, but is not the worst.
“When I say ice-free on May 14, I mean 100 per cent clear of ice all over the lake, everywhere!”
In 2021 the Lake of the Woods was 100 per cent ice-free by April 24, which was early, and Armstrong says that isn’t the case this year.
“We got a lot of ice to shift and we’ve barely started. What we’re seeing this year is Safety Bay is not so open. You can’t yet get a boat from the Keewatin Bridge to the Yacht Club. Some years that might be close to happening this time of the year.”
The latest Armstrong has seen a 100 per cent ice-free lake was back on May 21, 2014.
Though Armstrong isn’t up in the air taking pictures anymore he has many pilots contributing photographs to the Ice Patrol website.
For those that are interested in the ins and outs of the Ice Patrol Armstrong will be a guest speaker at the Common Ground: A Sharing of Our Stories event on April 9, 2022, at Seven Generations Educational Institute.
Tim Armstrong’s Ice Patrol blog and photos can be found here.