New Year and very cold

The other night, out of doors at 30 below, we saw a girl set off to walk her dog across the Rideau River to the park on the other side. There's no danger of people falling through the ice now as it must have thickened considerably during the last couple of weeks.

The average thickness of the ice in Baitshop Bay by Petrie Island, on the Ottawa River, is now reported to be 30cm. Last reported ice condition: "excellent" for fishing.

Today the Rideau Canal was opened for skating which means the ice is of a good thickness there too.

All 7.8 kilometres of the Rideau Canal Skateway are now open between Rideau and Dows Lake, including Patterson Creek and the Hartwell Locks. Last night a full sweep and flooding was completed. Sweeping operations were completed this morning. We ask that skaters use extra caution this afternoon. There are many areas with very rough patches of ice and with the volume of skaters, the condition of the ice will continue to deteriorate throughout the rest of the day.

Happy New Year, Ottawa!