ICE SAFETY WARNING
Don’t Take A Chance With Your Life. Be Aware Of Ever Changing Ice Conditions.
A resident has reported to us about going through the ice last Saturday while shovelling his rink. Fortunately he just went through up to his waist and with him being a Markham firefighter, his ice survival training helped him out of a bad situation.
Please be aware of constantly changing ice conditions on the Lake even in mid-winter but even more so this time of year.
KNOW THE DANGERS OF ICE
Ice Factors
Many factors affect ice thickness including: type of water, location, the time of year and other environmental factors such as:
- Water depth and size of body of water.
- Currents, tides and other moving water.
- Chemicals including salt.
- Fluctuations in water levels.
- Logs, rocks and docks absorbing heat from the sun.
- Changing air temperature.
- Shock waves from vehicles traveling on the ice.
Ice Colour
The colour of ice may be an indication of its strength.
- Clear blue ice is strongest.
- White opaque or snow ice is half as strong as blue ice. Opaque ice is formed by wet snow freezing on the ice.
- Grey ice is unsafe. The grayness indicates the presence of water.