Will this be the 1st time the Rideau Canal Skateway doesn’t open? The forecast is ‘not looking good’

An Environment Canada meteorologist is warning skaters eagerly awaiting the opening of the Rideau Canal that they might have to get their fix elsewhere this winter. 

Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist with the national weather agency, said temperatures over the next week will climb well above seasonal averages, and the rest of February isn’t looking much better.

“So [it’s] not looking good in terms of any kind of freezing, especially for long periods of time,” he said.

“We’re expecting near-normal temperatures to return late February [or] early March, but by then the seasonal norms are on the rise as spring is coming, so [it’s] not looking like that freeze is anywhere to be seen.”

This winter has been warmer than usual in Ottawa, and Flisfeder said temperatures across the province were higher than normal in January.

“January as a whole for the entire province of Ontario was about four to six degrees above where it should have been,” he said.

While Ottawa has experienced some bitterly cold days, Flisfeder said those low temperatures didn’t linger long enough to create ideal ice conditions.

“As soon as we get those really cold days, we rebound directly back to the positive side,” he said. “So it has been a very unusual winter in that regard.”

With warmer winters coming to the nation’s capital, researchers at Carleton University have partnered with the National Capital Commission to test innovative ways to extend the season for the Rideau Canal Skateway.

“The weather forecast is challenging for us this year,” said Bruce Devine, senior manager of facilities and programs with the National Capital Commission (NCC).

Nevertheless, Devine said the NCC is still holding out hope that temperatures will drop and the skateway will open.

“[But] we’re very optimistic. We still believe that we’ll be able to open one section of the skateway and it’s just a matter of time,” he said.

If that happens, it will be the latest opening day since skaters first hit the ice in 1971.

Turning to technology

Shawn Kenny, a professor with Carleton University’s department of civil and environmental, is working with the NCC on a joint project seeking ways to improve ice-building and extend the skating season despite warming temperatures.

They’re focusing on interventions that could be taken as early as December.

One of the innovations being tested is the “slush cannon,” a machine that shoots water into the air so it falls to the canal as slush, coating the top layer of ice. Researchers hope the machine will act as a catalyst to speed up the freezing process.

Researchers will also test a “thermosyphon,” which is used to cool down the water below the top layer of ice. The machine draws heat from the water and releases it into the air above.

Kenny said some of these technologies could help, but what’s really needed are consistent lower temperatures.

“As long as we’re below … the threshold, between minus five and minus 10, some of these technologies can help,” he said.

“But fundamentally, over a large scale such as this where we’re eight kilometres in length, we really like to have minus 10 to minus 15 weather to help us out.”