The cold weather has set in since early November: no rain, no thaw… in short, all the conditions are right for skating. The boards are already in place: what are we waiting for to start watering and making ice at Rivière Park?
To be continued…
Do we need snow to make an ice rink?
On the contrary, for a good ice rink:
- you need cold weather (temperatures below 0°C for several days);
- a fairly flat surface (lawn, soil, compacted gravel, paving stones, etc.);
- you need to remove the snow before watering, because it makes the ice soft, full of bubbles, and easily breakable.
- Snow can only be used to:
- make strips around the edge (to retain a little water at the beginning);
- secure the edges (cushion falls).
So: cold weather yes, snow not essential.
Wow it sure is easy to make comments like this when you are not the one doing the job!
Thank you, Ms. Gagnon, for your comment.
I agree. When I was young, I spent a lot of my time watching and watering the ice rink in my neighborhood so I could play hockey there.
In my childhood memories, it was simple but It’s a long time ago.
As for the ice trail, I agree that it is undoubtedly more complicated.
Let’s keep smiling, I’m sure we’ll have a beautiful ice rink for Christmas if Mother Nature keeps it up.
Thank you to the team responsible for taking care of it.
To get an opinion based on our actual weather data, I asked ChatGPT if an ice rink could have been set up today in North Hatley.
Let’s keep in mind that this is only “artificial” intelligence and not absolute truth. It makes mistakes for sure. But it gives a different perspective based on actual weather data.
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Here is its response:
based on the weather alone, an outdoor skating rink could absolutely have been set up in North Hatley this year (November–December).
1. Temperature conditions were favorable
In the North Hatley / Sherbrooke region:
November saw average highs around 4°C and lows around –3°C, with the last third of the month often dropping below freezing at night.
December typically brings even colder conditions, with highs around –1°C and lows frequently between –8°C and –10°C.
For a traditional (non-refrigerated) outdoor rink, you generally need:
5 to 7 nights below –5°C, and daytime temperatures near or below freezing to begin flooding the surface and building a solid base of ice.
Those conditions were clearly present in late November and throughout December.
2. So, could the rink have been ready?
From a weather standpoint:
Yes. With proper preparation, the municipality could have started flooding toward the end of November and had a usable rink by early or mid-December.
This assumes:
the boards were installed on time, the surface was properly leveled, and staff were available to flood during the cold evenings and nights.
The weather was not the problem.
The temperature window was long enough and cold enough to create outdoor ice.
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