Finally, ‘winter’ is back in Winterlude, as Rideau Canal Skateway opens again
It was a bumpy re-start to Winterlude’s biggest activity — ice conditions were rated as poor for the Rideau Canal Skateway on Tuesday morning, and one section remained closed. But at least there’s skating again. And with ice-making conditions just about ideal, prospects were looking good for improvement along the canal and Dow’s Lake.
The section of the canal between Bronson Avenue and Bank Street remained closed Tuesday, but crews have a long window of cold to work with: starting Thursday night there are four straight nights forecast with lows of at least -20 C.
There has been only one night below -20 so far this winter.
Meanwhile, the region’s maple syrup producers are already start- ing preparations for spring, and right on cue they have good news from a maple forest scientist in Vermont, who says this winter’s warm weather shouldn’t be a problem.
Timothy Perkins of the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center has written a note to producers telling them that winter weather doesn’t matter as long as early spring weather is good:
“Sap yield is highly controlled by the fluctuation in temperature DURING the spring sap flow season,” he wrote.
Sap flows best if there’s a freezeand-thaw cycle, he says. Ideally the temperatures should be about 5 C during the day and -5 C at night.
“No other environmental (climate or biological) factors outside the sap flow season ... are correlated to sap yield. ... So overall I’d say that the abnormally warm weather is definitely not anything to worry about at this point.”
At Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush in Lanark Highlands, Shirley Fulton-Deugo keeps getting questions about what this season’s production will be like. People ask every year, warm or cold.
“Call me in May,” she always answers.
But she’s pleased to see come cold weather returning. Cold will kill some of the ticks that can spread disease, she notes.
“There’s a whole lot of things that winter cleans up,” she said.
Fulton’s opens this weekend — not for new syrup yet, but for winter activities in the bush.
Ottawa is now gaining nearly three minutes of daylight each day.