Double-digit temperatures have been a common theme this winter in southern Alberta.
For Kevin Petersen and his two-year-old daughter Blayke, it’s a welcome change.
“Other than the wind, it’s been fantastic,” he says.
Petersen and his daughter are regulars to the playground in Lethbridge’s Riverstone Park. The above-average temperatures make playing a bit more fun, but with that comes additional concern over unsafe ice surfaces.
The city has posted warnings to keep people away from the unsafe water.
The city usually rates ices surfaces and posts results online. Last year, the weather was so cold and snowy, city crews were kept too busy to give a rating. This year, conditions are just too warm.
The city has spotted some people out on storm ponds and said the ponds can be extremely dangerous with salt mixed in and the water constantly moving.
“The levels change dramatically, the temperatures fluctuate in the water and the ice doesn’t freeze regularly, so it can be a metre thick in one area and a couple metres away, it could be six-inches thick, so not safe,” Jensen says. “So please stay off the storm ponds.”
Jensen says it’s best to leave the ice ratings to the experts and abide by the city’s decision on what’s safe and what’s not.
“You can’t tell how thick it is by looking at it, there is different ice-level qualities as well, so you have to know a lot about it before you should really venture out on it.”
With above-average temperatures expected for the rest of the month, it’s best to stick to the city’s indoor ice surfaces.