NEWS/UPDATES

    Wednesday, April 26th

    The ice has gone out today. And to make it extra official we had Don Lloyd, George Garland, and the Grays all standing on the P-store dock to witness it at about noon.

    I would like to officially apologize for putting everyone off on the wrong tack with the news about the ice going off my Mom's pond so early. This year the ice went off Canoe Lake 35 days after the pond. This is the first time in ten years that it has been more than 20 days. We had a long cold spell in late March and early April that kept temperatures in Algonquin below zero during the day as well as at night. It's been a great visit and another year we've seen the ice go off Canoe Lake. Each one is different and for me this is the best time of the year up here.

    We'll be heading back to the city tomorrow, but now that the cottage is open we'll be up as much as possible.Summer 2000 is underway--hope you all have a good one.
    Tuesday, April 25th

    It has been an interesting 48 hours. When we arrived on Sunday afternoon we discovered that the power was out. A quick investigation turned up a large branch across the line from the hydro cut to our cabin. We called Hydro to let them know and to our amazement the crew said they would try to get in through the ice that day. They arrived at the P-store with a fairly large boat at about 6:00 PM but couldn't make it across. They tried from the South and I met them at the point past Day's. We checked the lines up the hill from the shore and found a large tree had taken down all the lines. The guys came back in on Monday morning and got us going by about 2:00 PM.

    Looks like the ice will officially go out at the end of the day today. That makes Karen Yule's friend Ali Hamza the winner--congrats Ali!

    Here is the view of the ice going out to the north, east, and south. Dad decided to paddle out into the ice... I think a strong headwind would be easier :-)
    Sunday, April 23rd

    *** We're here! ***

    The ice hasn't gone out yet and there are stories to tell, but for now I'll leave it at this: I am typing and uploading this by candle-light because we arrived to discover that a tree has taken down the power lines. Here are some photos from the trip:
    Wednesday, April 12th

    The weather has been pretty cool for the past week or so and it has been below zero in Algonquin every night and most days. We need sun and wind to get the ice moving and we haven't had any of either. Looks like we have at least another week to go.
    Wednesday, April 5th

    *** DEADLINE EXTENDED ***

    Seeing as the ice has not come close to going out yet (hrm!) we have extended the deadline to change your vote for one week. You now have until midnight, Wednesday, April 12th to submit or change your date.
    Monday, April 3rd

    Ken Elder (Tea Lake year-round resident) says that the ice will not go out for three more weeks. Go figure! In fact, he walked to camp Tamakwa on the ice today. So, it looks like Bruce, Scott, Jean and Gaye are in pretty good shape. In fact... I think I'll join them :-)
    Monday, March 27th

    Just spoke to Ken Elder on Tea Lake (one lake S/W of Canoe Lake) and he says that they are still walking on the ice and although there is water on the ice along the shore, it will be at least another 10 days to two weeks before it opens up. So, it looks something like April 10th right now. If things stay on this track then Dad, Debbie and I will probably go up on Saturday or Sunday, April 8th or 9th, and stay for about 4 days. Stay tuned to this URL for more updates....
    Sunday, March 26th

    Temperatures have remained above average for the past week and it doesn't look like there will be any change this week. (Norms for this time of year range from -5 to +6 C for Algonquin.) Looks to us like we are still on track for a new early ice-out record.
    Wednesday, March 22nd

    Looks like the ice is off the pond at the Farm. Ginny (Mom) says that no new ice has been forming at night for a few days so I think we will call ice-out at the Farm this year on Monday, March 20th. According to the 15 day rule it should go off Canoe Lake very close to Tuesday, April 4th. This still seems *way* too early for me, so I'm sticking with the 8th.
    Tuesday, March 21st

    The predictions are pouring in so you'll have to act fast to get your first choice. Gaye Clemson has gone way out and predicted the *latest* ice-out on record. She says: "My secret sources at the Visitors Center Archives tell me that it because of so little snow, there is tremendous amount of ice on the lake So I think it's going to be a very late year so I vote for May 10th."
    Monday, March 20th

    Mom (Ginny) reports that the ice went off the pond at her place in the Hockley Valley some time around Wednesday, March 15th. Normally the ice on Canoe lake goes out *very* close to 15 days after the pond, which would call for an unprecedented ice out date of Thursday, March 30th. However, the ice on the pond has been coming back a little each night and then melting again, so we aren't calling an Official pond ice out date yet.
    Wednesday, March 8th

    Jeff and Debbie were at Canoe Lake with Debbie's sister Ruth and her family (Karrel, Sara and Annie). A long February thaw has left very little snow, but enough ice for at least two people to drive 4x4s onto the lake! Still too early to say for sure, but the warm weather (close to 20 C on Wednesday, March 8th) seems to be hanging in and could mean an early ice-out. Stay tuned.

THE RULES

  1. All entries must be sent by e-mail to Jeff by midnight, Wednesday, April 12th, 2000. (Entries are forwarded to both Debbie and Jeff)
  2. 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.
  3. Entry must include your name and date of your prediction.
  4. 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.
  5. You *can* change your prediction up to the deadline.
  6. Ice-out is defined as follows: "At least 50% of the lake is clear of ice, by a majority vote of those present."
  7. Winner is the person whose prediction is the closest.
  8. Prize: being able to lord it over the others for the rest of the year about your superior knowledge of the lake (and face it...everything else in life).

CURRENT WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE CANOE LAKE AREA

Click the links below to see current five-day forecasts for Algonquin Park
and Huntsville from Environment Canada.

Algonguin Park

Huntsville

PAST ICE-OUT DATES AND FACTS

2000 PREDICTIONS

(Note: 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.)

1999 PREDICTIONS

Last year's ice-out page is here.

See you next year!

Jeff


[Last updated: 2000-04-29 23:15]