REGINA — The City of Regina is continuing to monitor ice rinks with above-seasonal temperatures for the area.
Since the start of this week, Regina has seen daytime highs above 0 C. According to Environment Canada, the city’s normal average daytime high during the year is -11 C.
Ray Morgan, City of Regina manager of park maintenance, said crews have checked the roughly 50 outdoor ice rinks daily and deem the ice to still be usable as of Wednesday.
“They are a bit soft, so we're on a maintenance routine where our teams are scraping the ice.”
Morgan explained that scraping the ice is essential for safe ice conditions.
“When there's an accumulation of snow, and if it stays overnight, it may freeze up, creating ridges and high spots.”
Somewhat cloudy conditions in the city have also helped keep the ice usable.
“[If you have] a bordered rink and on the north side of the ice surface against the bordered rinks, those are the areas that tend to deteriorate rapidly, especially when the sun is out, it's a lot warmer than it would be on the south side of the rink.”
When inspecting a melting rink, Morgan said crews look for exposed aggregate or asphalt.
“If we're starting to see that become exposed we're going to shut it down because there's a tripping hazard and a liability there.”
Another sign that can lead to a shutdown is soft ice, which is evident when footprints or impressions remain visible.
Morgan said the city typically doesn’t start seeing ice rinks shut down until February.
The optimal temperature for ice rink conditions is -5 C or below.
As of Wednesday, Morgan said only the ice rink located at Pat Fiacco Plaza has been closed.
The city isn’t expecting any other outdoor ice rinks to close as the week continues.
