Ice Conditions (most recent on top, terminology)

Legend (wind-chill)		Sun March 31, 2002: The season has come to a close. The final week had just about every condition imaginable; powder, ice, water. What and end to a wonderful season. If you're using skis you'll need sharp edges. Go to Old FireHall Sport in Unionville. They do an excellent job for a very good price! *Notice: Subscribe to Yahoo! Groups. Whether your kite surfing on the water, kite skiing or Snowfering on the ice, there's an interest group for you.* Gear up, and find your line of balance as you ride the wave of life outdoors!
Excellent Rating
Good to go
Proceed with caution
Danger	Open Water
Event

Thanks to Phil, Bert, Jim, Peter, Russ, Steve, Joe, & Charles for their on going updates. Keep 'em coming and sail safe & free!

*Report Date (windcast)*	*Location(click for details/map)*	*Snow/Ice Surface (colour-code)*	*Snow/Ice Depth (cm)*	*Edging (1-5, 1=excellent)/ Sun, Moon Rise-Set*	Open Water	Shoreline
Sun Mar 31, 2002	Ice no longer safe, closed for the season
Sat Mar 30, 2002	Keswick (Lake Simcoe)	excellent conditions to end the season	0/>20	2/	Cooks Bay south	breaking up
Sun Feb 24, 2002	Keswick (Lake Simcoe)	none/uneven near shore, but smooth on the south end of the ice huts	0/>20	2/	none	Solid
Wed Feb 28, 2002	add to yahoo calendar			/6:58-18:05,19:55-8:03	Full Moon
Mon Jan 28, 2002	add to yahoo calendar			/7:41-17:42,17:04-7:45	Full Moon
Sun Jan 20, 2002	Cootes Paradice, Hamilton	Refreeze slush ice on top of old ice. orange peel texture.no bumps	0/5-15	2/	none	Solid
Sat Jan 19, 2002	Cootes Paradice, Hamilton	very coarse orange peal surface super grip for all blades or ski edges fast with no suprises/hard frozen level slush ice	0/5-15	2/	none	Solid
Sun Jan 13, 2002	Ken Whillans Resourse Mgmt. Area	safest black ice, very small ice area, gusty, but great for slalom racing or tuning up your board	0/5-15	1/	none	Solid
Sun Jan 6, 2002	Walter Drive (Cooks Bay)	wet snow covering with lots of snowmobile tracks in the first couple hundred feet of shore	3/16	3/	north by the river inlet towards Keswick	Solid
Sat Jan 5, 2002	Walter Drive (Cooks Bay)	blown patchy snow, the ice is very smooth	0-1/15	3/	none visible	Solid
Wed Jan 1, 2002	Walter Drive (Cooks Bay)	blown snow, the ice is fairly smooth	0-3/12	2/7:55-16:50	none visible	Solid
Wed Jan 1, 2002	Puslinch Lake	The edges are still soft at shoreline. A few pressure cracks are sluhhed over making rough spots	<5/15-30	3/	none visible	Soft
Sun Dec 30, 2001	Port Perry	snow packed, patchy ice and packed snow	3/9	2/	none visible	Solid
Sat Dec 29, 2001	Port Perry	snow packed, level	5/8	2/	none visible	Solid
Thu Dec 27, 2001	Kempenfelt Bay	none, level	0/<5		yes	Solid
Wed Dec 26, 2001	Port Perry	powder, level	5/7	2/	centre of the lake	Solid
Previous seasons	Started			Ended
2001-2002 (details)	December 26, 2001			March 30, 2002
2000-2001 (details)	November 25, 2000			April 11, 2001
1999-2000 (details)	December 19, 1999			March 20, 2000
1998-1999 (details)				March 30, 1999

As I get more cam and weather feeds, I'll add them to this page. Be sure to check out
or current wind forecasts.

The following table of ice thickness versus ice strength, provided by the National Research Council of Canada and developed by E.R. Pounder, gives you the safe load for a given ice thickness of fresh lake and river ice

SAFE LOAD	OPERATION	FRESH ICE
One person	at rest	8 cm
0.4 ton	moving slowly	10 cm
2 ton vehicle	moving slowly	25 cm *
10 ton tracked vehicle	moving slowly	43 cm
13 ton aircraft	parked	61 cm
* estimated numbers, not provided in original table (source)

Source E.R. Pounder (ec)

Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis (GLSEA)

Canadian Ice Service Bulletin for Great Lakes (Dec-April)

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Report Date

Location Other

Ice Depth

Snow Depth

Ice Surface Features

Snow Surface Features (Check all that apply)

	Level Ice: Ice unaffected by deformation.
	Rafted Ice: Type of deformed ice formed by one piece of ice overriding another.
	Ridge: A line or wall of broken ice forced up by pressure. It may be fresh or weathered.

	Sastrugi: Sharp, irregular ridges formed on a snow surface by wind erosion and deposition. The ridges are parallel to the direction of the prevailing wind at the time they were formed.
	Snowdrift: An accumulation of wind-blown snow deposited in the lee of obstructions or heaped by wind eddies. A crescent-shaped snowdrift, with ends pointing down-wind, is called a snow barchan

Edging

Openings in the Ice

Fracture: Any break or rupture resulting from deformation processes.
Crack: Any fracture which may have been followed by separation ranging from a few centimetres to 1 m.
Polynya: Any non-linear shaped opening enclosed by ice. May contain brash ice and/or be covered with new ice, nilas or young ice; sub-mariners refer to these as skylights.

Shoreline

Stranded Ice: Ice which had been floating and has been deposited on the shore by retreating high water.

Melting Stage More common at the end of the season. (Check all that apply)
	Puddle: An accumulation of water on ice, mainly due to melting snow, but in the more advanced stages also to the melting of ice.
	Thaw Holes: Vertical holes in ice formed when surface puddles melt through to the underlying water.
	Dried Ice: Ice surface from which water has disappeared after the formation of cracks and thaw holes. During the period of drying the surface whitens.
	Rotten Ice: Ice which has become honeycombed and is in an advanced state of disintegration.
	Flooded Ice: Ice which has been flooded and is heavily loaded by water or water and wet snow.
	Frozen Puddle: A puddle which has frozen over.

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