Remember when the lake froze?
It is a topic which evokes more than a little discussion. “Facts” are confidently tossed out, only to be called into question. Cited sources are rejected as incorrect. Photographic evidence is greeted with much skepticism. This is not a topic for the faint-hearted; to be unsure is to face certain defeat. “Are you sure about that?”, is an oft-offered response to a confidently opined claim.
What is this much-debated topic? It’s this: “In what years did Okanagan Lake completely freeze over?”
We have had a long and cold winter, with very impressive minimum temperatures. As I write this (Feb. 9), the air temperature has risen to 2 C. According to a local website, Lake Okanagan is slightly colder, a numbing 0.2 C. This is an improvement over last week, when the water was - 0.1 C. These temperatures are enough reason to speculate if Lake Okanagan will freeze over, making the winter of 2016-17 an historic one.
Some local bodies of water provide easy answers to the question about winter freeze-overs. Duck and Wood Lakes frequently freeze over. Ice fishers on Wood Lake is not a rare spectacle. Some years, people drive vehicles onto the ice. Mountain lakes — including Oyama, Beaver, Postill, and Bear — freeze over annually. Few would question claims that ice on these lakes can safely support great weight.
What about Okanagan Lake? How often does it freeze? This is not an easy question to answer. It has been claimed that Okanagan Lake froze more frequently in the past. This is possible, especially as we experience the effects of global warming. I have heard it said that Okanagan Lake formerly froze at least once per decade, at least 12 times since 1900. This may be true, but it invites skeptics clambering for hard proof.
This 1922 photograph above shows the S S Okanagan, apparently frozen in ice, probably at Kelowna. It would be tempting to claim that Okanagan Lake thus froze in 1922, but that cannot be said with any degree of confidence. Possibly the lake froze only in certain areas, including near Kelowna, where the Okanagan was photographed.
That is part of the problem. During my 25-plus years driving back and forth over Okanagan Lake Bridge to my school in Westbank, more than one winter I recall seeing vast expanses of ice, sometimes stretching across the lake. I recall — and this statement will cause more than one person to doubt me – that there was a significant amount of ice on Okanagan Lake about 1986. Or was it 1985? Perhaps 1987? In any case, the ice did not extend the full length and width of Okanagan Lake. And so, regardless of the year, I cannot claim that the lake froze over.
There is one winter which has a wide following, in the discussion about the lake freezing. The winter of 1949-50 was apparently a very long and cold one, with record-breaking cold temperatures. Not surprising, the lake started to freeze over. Many claim that it was in 1949-50 that the lake “froze solid.”
Another popular winter cited as a lake freeze is 1968-69. On Dec. 23, 1968, my family hosted a gathering at our Glenmore home, celebrating my parents’ silver wedding anniversary. The house was full of guests. It was a cold evening, and frequently our guests went outside to check their cars. When it was time to leave, they started their cars well in advance of their departure, letting them heat up. The cold temperatures continued and the lake started to freeze at Kelowna. Ice spread north and south. Many people, myself included, confidently agree that Okanagan Lake froze in 1968-69. Others disagree.
I was in discussion with a longtime resident of Okanagan Centre. He had clear memories of the winter of 1968-69 and recalled much of the lake freezing over. However, he remembers open water between Okanagan Centre and the west side of Okanagan Lake.
Lake-freeze stories evoke memories. One well-known story concerns a man and his motorcycle. This man worked for a Kelowna delivery company. Hoping to save a bit of delivery time, he ventured onto the lake ice, and headed off. He soon realized the folly of this unwise decision. The ice started to crack, and soon he and his motorcycle plunged into the water. Fortunately, the driver and his motorcycle were saved, but the goods to be delivered disappeared into the depths of the lake, never to be recovered. Some claim that he was delivering alcoholic spirits. A more mundane version has him delivering the mail. A simple story such as this evokes different memories.
And so the question remains: “How often has Okanagan Lake frozen?” We can be confident in asserting that a complete lake freezeup is rare, probably happening only a few times in the past century. We can possibly be confident that it froze in 1949 – 1950 and possibly almost froze in 1968-69. However, it is perhaps wiser and safer to merely say, “I believe that the lake may possibly have frozen over completely in the past, but I am not really sure!”
Robert Michael Hayes is a lifelong resident of Kelowna and is a descendant of the pioneer Clement and Whelan families. He is a life member of the Okanagan Historical Society. This article is part of a series, submitted by the Kelowna Branch, Okanagan Historical Society. Additional information would be welcome at P.O. Box 22105, Capri P.O., Kelowna, B.C., V1Y 9N9.