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While people teed off at golf courses during one of the mildest Christmas Eve days since records were kept in Ottawa, all three of Ottawa’s refrigerated outdoor rinks have been closed.
The Rink of Dreams at City Hall, the rink at Ben Franklin Place at Centrepointe and the Lansdowne Park skating court were all reduced to slushy ponds on Wednesday and Thursday. They probably won’t reopen until Tuesday at the very earliest.
Sunny days with temperatures over 10 C or large amounts of rain both spell an end to an outdoor refrigerated ice surface, said Kelly Amon, the city’s area manager of parks, buildings and grounds.
Reader photos by Sarah Niman at Petrie Island on the beach on December 24, 2015.
“The rain is more of an issue, as it puddles on the cold surface and makes it even harder to freeze, resulting in an ice surface that is too thick and uneven. Once the surface becomes too soft, the rinks are closed to prevent damage to the overall ice surface, which makes it easier for the rink to re-open when the weather improves.”
The city looks for sustained temperatures of below or just slightly above zero for a two to three-day period to open a refrigerated rink, allowing staff to flood the rink and create a good base, said Amon. Environment Canada is predicting a run of sub-zero days starting on Sunday, when the temperature will dip to a predicted -19 C overnight.
Meanwhile, Ottawa isn’t the only city closing its outdoor rinks. The rink at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, which usually stays open until 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve, was closed Wednesday morning.
But in New York City, Rockefeller Center’s skating rink was open Thursday, even though temperatures had reached 21 C.
The Rink of Dreams at City Hall opened on Dec 5 this year, just in time for Mayor Jim Watson’s annual Christmas party. The skating court at Lansdowne Park opened Dec. 4.
The Rink of Dreams was open 132 days in both the 2014-2015 and 2013-2014 seasons, and 119 days in the 2012-2013 season. The earliest opening day was Nov. 25 in 2013. The latest closing day was April 8, 2015.
Environment Canada says weather records have tumbled “by the sleighful” all over the province on Thursday. Temperatures hit 16.3 C by 1 p.m. Thursday in Ottawa, but are expected to drop to 3 C overnight. Normal daytime highs for Dec. 24 in Ottawa are -5 C, with nighttime lows of -13 C.
Davor Polak, wearing a Santa Claus hat, tees off at Falcon Ridge Golf Club during windy but balmy 16 degree celcius weather Thursday December 24, 2015. (Darren Brown/Ottawa Citizen)
The unusually mild weather was caused by a deepening low pressure system over James Bay, but cooler conditions are on the way, along with strong southwesterly winds, said Environment Canada in a special bulletin.
“Travel conditions should be very good for everyone, except for perhaps one special person and a herd of reindeer, who probably prefer a blanket of fresh snow.”
By the numbers:
3: Number of refrigerated outdoor rinks in Ottawa
300: Approximate number of unrefrigerated outdoor rinks
$2.1 million: Cost to build the refrigerated Rink of Dreams outside city hall, including a $750,000 cost overrun due to design issues associated with building it on top of am underground garage
12,500: Size of the Rink of Dreams, in square feet.
10 C: Temperature at which maintaining an outdoor refrigerated rink becomes difficult
$60 to $125 U.S: Cost of a VIP pass to skate on the rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City
$0: How much it costs to skate on an outdoor rink in Ottawa
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The Rink of Dreams at City Hall, the rink at Ben Franklin Place at Centrepointe and the Lansdowne Park skating court were all reduced to slushy ponds on Wednesday and Thursday. They probably won’t reopen until Tuesday at the very earliest.
Sunny days with temperatures over 10 C or large amounts of rain both spell an end to an outdoor refrigerated ice surface, said Kelly Amon, the city’s area manager of parks, buildings and grounds.
Reader photos by Sarah Niman at Petrie Island on the beach on December 24, 2015.
“The rain is more of an issue, as it puddles on the cold surface and makes it even harder to freeze, resulting in an ice surface that is too thick and uneven. Once the surface becomes too soft, the rinks are closed to prevent damage to the overall ice surface, which makes it easier for the rink to re-open when the weather improves.”
The city looks for sustained temperatures of below or just slightly above zero for a two to three-day period to open a refrigerated rink, allowing staff to flood the rink and create a good base, said Amon. Environment Canada is predicting a run of sub-zero days starting on Sunday, when the temperature will dip to a predicted -19 C overnight.
Meanwhile, Ottawa isn’t the only city closing its outdoor rinks. The rink at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, which usually stays open until 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve, was closed Wednesday morning.
But in New York City, Rockefeller Center’s skating rink was open Thursday, even though temperatures had reached 21 C.
The Rink of Dreams at City Hall opened on Dec 5 this year, just in time for Mayor Jim Watson’s annual Christmas party. The skating court at Lansdowne Park opened Dec. 4.
The Rink of Dreams was open 132 days in both the 2014-2015 and 2013-2014 seasons, and 119 days in the 2012-2013 season. The earliest opening day was Nov. 25 in 2013. The latest closing day was April 8, 2015.
Environment Canada says weather records have tumbled “by the sleighful” all over the province on Thursday. Temperatures hit 16.3 C by 1 p.m. Thursday in Ottawa, but are expected to drop to 3 C overnight. Normal daytime highs for Dec. 24 in Ottawa are -5 C, with nighttime lows of -13 C.
Davor Polak, wearing a Santa Claus hat, tees off at Falcon Ridge Golf Club during windy but balmy 16 degree celcius weather Thursday December 24, 2015. (Darren Brown/Ottawa Citizen)
The unusually mild weather was caused by a deepening low pressure system over James Bay, but cooler conditions are on the way, along with strong southwesterly winds, said Environment Canada in a special bulletin.
“Travel conditions should be very good for everyone, except for perhaps one special person and a herd of reindeer, who probably prefer a blanket of fresh snow.”
By the numbers:
3: Number of refrigerated outdoor rinks in Ottawa
300: Approximate number of unrefrigerated outdoor rinks
$2.1 million: Cost to build the refrigerated Rink of Dreams outside city hall, including a $750,000 cost overrun due to design issues associated with building it on top of am underground garage
12,500: Size of the Rink of Dreams, in square feet.
10 C: Temperature at which maintaining an outdoor refrigerated rink becomes difficult
$60 to $125 U.S: Cost of a VIP pass to skate on the rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City
$0: How much it costs to skate on an outdoor rink in Ottawa
Related
查看原文...
