Two snowmobile association members measuring the ice. Photo from GSSA Facebook.
City of Yellowknife
1 min.read

Warm temperatures making ice unsafe in YK, Hay River

Bailey Moreton
By Bailey Moreton

Unseasonably warm temperatures over the past week have northerners concerned with travelling on the ice.

Ice measurements in Yellowknife stopped on November 15, when all the lakes measured by the Great Slave Snowmobile Association — who do the city’s ice measurements — were measured at six inches.

But the group posted to Facebook on December 2, warning people heading out onto the ice on snowmobiles the ice may still be thin in some areas.

“We would like to advise everyone to be extra cautious as we are still early in the season and the high water levels in the lakes seems that it may have changed the patterns of the freeze up this season,” they wrote on Facebook.

A snowmobile broke through the ice at Quyta Lake — just north of Yellowknife — on December 2.

The group also posted on Facebook a Yellowknife resident had broken through the ice on Con Lake, near Mosher Island.

Please be aware of thin ice around the Con dock and Mosher island area. This area is known to have bad ice as there…

Posted by Great Slave Snowmobile Association on Sunday, 6 December 2020

“This area is known to have bad ice as there is a current that runs around the island,” Great Slave Snowmobile Association wrote on Facebook. “If you are new to Yellowknife it would be a good idea to talk to an elder or long time Yellowknifer to find out the known areas of bad ice.”

Hay River still has some sections of their waterways barricaded off, although town staff were measuring the ice to review that.

Bailey Moreton
Bailey Moreton
Bailey is new to the north, arriving from Ottawa where he studied journalism at Carleton University. He has worked for newspapers in Halifax, Windsor, and Ottawa. He came to the north hoping to see polar bears. He will settle for a bison. If you have a tip, send it to 905 252-9781, or [email protected].

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