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Ice Conditions (most recent on top, terminology, monitor page for changes, Ministry of NR, YRP)

Legend (wind-chill)

Sat April 12, 2003: The season has come to a close. Could we be so lucky to have such a long season?

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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 Peter, 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
Sat Apr 12, 2003 Ice no longer safe, closed for the season
Mon Apr 7, 2003 Willow Beach (Lake Simcoe) patchy snow and frozen crust from freezing rain 1-3/>15 2/ none was wet but the recent below freezing temperatures have made the shoreline solid again
Wed Mar 26, 2003 Parkwood Avenue (Cook's Bay) none but ocassional slush around pressure cracks and ice huts/firm smooth crust n centre of bay 0/>15 1/ around ice huts, and reeds at south end of bay Wet but solid
Sat Mar 15/16, 2003 Winter Wind Festival
Sat Feb 8, 2003 Willow Beach (Lake Simcoe) refrozen thaw, but has a short covering of snow packed, great open bowl-like conditions and runs all the way across the whole lake about 40 km 0-5/>15 2/ none Solid, with large pressure cracks, making the drive on/off shore rather interesting, there is a free parking lot on the ice and pretty much every where you can drive on safely
Keswick (Lake Simcoe) refrozen thaw, but very hard and icey 0-3/>15 2/ none Solid
Fri Jan 10, 2003 Keswick (Lake Simcoe) powder snow/uneven shush crust underneath 10/>15 2/ none Solid
Wed Jan 1, 2003 Walter Drive (Cook's Bay) currently no snow, the recent rain as melted the early snow covering leaving an almost glass like skating rink, sharp edges are a must 0/>15 3/ none, the thinnest ice is in the northern part of the bay up by Roaches Point, it's about 5 inches in the middle of the bay right off 5 corners (Ways Bay Drive) Solid
Sat Dec 21, 2002 Walter Drive (Cook's Bay) crockadile smooth ice with the occasional pressure crack 0/>15 1/

around some of the reeds in the south end of the bay

 Solid
Parkwood Avenue (Cook's Bay) intermittent crockadile smooth ice with the occasional pressure crack (not as smooth as Walter Drive access) 0/>15 2/

none

 Solid
Fri Dec 6, 2002 Keswick (Lake Simcoe) snow packed on a west wind reach 1-3/10 2/ across into the bay Solid
Sun Dec 1, 2002 Walter Drive (Cook's Bay) lite patchy snow/ refrozen unlevel ice 1/6-8 2/

north into bay

 Fairly solid, don't walk out on the canal, use the park to access the lake on the north side of the canal, the canal isn't thick enough
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 iWindsurf.com
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)
Lake Simcoe is the bottom most red dot.Canadian Ice Service Bulletin for Great Lakes (Dec-April)
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Report Date

LocationOther
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
  • Not Frozen: Pre-season, ice not frozen yet.
  • 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
  • Not Frozen: Pre-season, shoreline not frozen yet.
  • 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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Liability Information
Lake Simcoe Wind Sports (LSWS) does not assume any liability as a result of the use of any information contained in at this web site.  LSWS does not assume any liability as a result of use of any link contained in the LSWS web site.  Wind powered activities have potential hazards, which need to be evaluated for each person based on that person's circumstances.  By your use of the information or products provided by LSWS, you recognize the foregoing and agree to hold harmless LSWS from any liability as a result of your use of the information.

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Grant Fitz, fitzgr@yahoo.com Copyright © 2001-2003 Grant Fitz. All rights reserved.
Website: http://www.oocities.org/fitzgr