The recent spate of warm weather has prompted the city of St. Albert to officially close all its outdoor ice surfaces for the season.
As of March 9, the city closed all outdoor rinks including the one at Lacombe Lake Park, and the city is reminding residents to be cautious on the ice at this time of year.
Les David Mroz, the Fire Prevention & Safety Officer at the St. Albert Fire Department, said with the snow melting there comes an increased risk from ice, evidenced by an increase in emergency calls.
“There’s been a few more car accidents, and there’s definitely been a bunch more slip-and-falls for the ambulance, which our crews respond to,” he said.
He said fire rescue crews also do a lot of ice-rescue training, considering there are several hazards in St. Albert including the river, Big Lake and the storm-water retention ponds. Fortunately, it’s been at least a decade since the last time crews had to put that training to use.
“Historically here in St. Albert, we tend to have good luck in that people are savvy and educated, and tend to keep off the ice,” he said. “That message must be going to their kids, as well.”
Mroz cautions residents that at this time of year, no matter how stable the ice might look the best advice is to simply keep off of it. Earlier this year in Ontario, a firefighter was killed during ice-rescue training; even with emergency crews already on site, the ice can be deadly.
“Even in training, without knowing specifically what happened there, it is dangerous being out there especially with the current,” he said.
Dan Kulak, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said while the warm weather is certainly cause for some optimism the only certainty when it comes to March weather is it’s variable.
“What you have to look at in this part of the world is we’re very rarely at the average,” he said. “There is a significant variability in the weather in the spring months here, where the average is just a number.”
This winter, like most Alberta winters, is typified by fluctuations. October, December and January were warmer than the average, while November and February were colder than the average.
And while the old wives’ tale tells us that since March came in like a lion this year we can expect it to go out like a lamb, Kulak said it’s a good talking point but probably not worth betting on.
“I wouldn’t put a lot of faith into it,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not personally aware of any peer-reviewed references that have been published on that topic.”
