Ice up, ice down

Notes from Bob Farr, island bound on Cattle Island in Lake Temagami till freeze-up

The weather forecast these days is depressing. At least for a number of us who are island marooned this time of year. We want cold, blue-sky weather but we are not likely to get it before Christmas. 

All because of a low pressure coming up from the southern states and sitting almost stationary over much of the eastern continent. Whether or not we can blame global warming on this weather is a matter for debate, but in over 30 years of living here on Lake Temagami, it is quite evident that the weather patterns have changed to much milder falls and later freeze-ups. When freeze-up does occur about the usual time, or even earlier, it always seems to turn milder soon afterwards creating even more problems. 

For most city dwellers and land lubbers the changes of weather have very little effect on their day-to-day routine. Our very lifestyle is governed by these subtle changes, however. Oh well, when you live in paradise you have to put up with a few aggravations occasionally.

By the way, another myth seems to have been debunked. By all accounts, the lake should have froze over on the full moon of the 19th. It was foggy and raining that night!

There is no open water in the photo, looking east towards Pinto Island, although it does appear that way. The remainder of the open areas froze over on Tuesday morning and made about four centimetres of ice before the weather changed on Wednesday evening. The ice is still there, but has a couple of centimetres of rainfall sitting on top of it.  

— Bob Farr           

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