Issue 55 Vol III, January 15, 2008

T H I S  O U R  N O R T H  A M E R I C A

Warm Weather Chills Canada
Khushwant Toor

Winter started with full fury this winter and painted everything in white (snow) much earlier then the usual time. Temperatures dipped to -20’s with the wind chill in December of 2007. but surprisingly, 2008 started with warm temperatures in the + double digits. This warm weather pattern is affecting most parts of Canada and has prompted warnings for the public to stay away from thin ice and moving water. For the ice wine growers of Ontario as well as British Columbia, it is matter of deep concern.

Due to the warm weather ice buildup on the surfaces of the lakes has become thinner and is proving dangerous for people who enjoy winter outdoor activities at this time of the year.

Many incidents; in Ontario on the Lake Simcoe north of Toronto, a 60-year-old man who was last seen going ice fishing  never returned and is presumed to have drowned beneath ice. Then on January 2, the bodies of two snowmobilers were recovered from the same Lake Simcoe.

Toronto has set a new temperature record of 12 degrees Celsius during the early days of January where as the average should be minus 1.8 C. Windsor also recorded 16 degree Celsius. The rise in temperature has also caused the ice to melt in large quantity and flooding has troubled most of the cities.

Beauce, a Quebec town was evacuated on January 8, 2008 after a nearby river spilled over its banks because of rising water levels caused by melting snow and rain.

Another town was put on high alert as flooding caused by unseasonably warm weather continued in the vicinity. Similar flooding incidents have also been reported in New Burnswick and British Columbia.

Fog has also been hampering visibility for travellers in most of the warm weather affected areas. As many as 117 flights were cancelled on January 7, 2008 when Environment Canada issued its first fog warning.

Although warm winter weather has been bliss for most of the Canadians; it has dampened profits for some of the country's major ice wine producing areas. In British Columbia and Ontario, growers are still waiting for the grapes to freeze on the vine.

Temperatures must be – 8 C for at least 24 hours before the fruit can be harvested. The colder the weather, the sweeter the juice, but most days it has not even dipped below freezing in Ontario and B.C.

Many farmers are waiting for the winter to return so that they can pick up their grapes for the ice wine. However, too long a wait can cause the grapes to get mouldy.

Ontario and B.C. growers may opt to pick the grapes to make a product called late harvest wine, still a premium product, but not as lucrative as ice wine.

The hardest hit by the warm weather are the ski resort areas almost throughout the country.

Without snow to groom, chairlifts to load and hotel guests to manage, hundreds of seasonal employees in the ski resort town of Collingwood in Ontario have been laid off. All eight area ski resorts have closed.

The famous Blue Mountain ski resort laid off 1300 employees last week and another ski club, The Georgian Peaks Club, in the area had to lay off more than 200 ski instructors, lifties, servers, snow technicians and parking lot attendants.

Winter tourism in Ontario is basically devastated by this warm weather and certain snow dependent areas such as the Collingwood are in the crisis mode because, besides no skiers, there are no snowmobilers, there are no ice fishermen.

Environment Canada is predicting colder days to return soon. Will these really return? Only time can tell.

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