Article content

It’s not that winter’s dead. It’s worse than that. The old grump is forever late and untrustworthy.

The Rideau Canal will launch its 50th skating season this year, soon as the middle-age hot flashes subside. As we write, it isn’t close to being open and the forecast isn’t encouraging: in the next 14 days, there are seven when the daytime high is -2 C or warmer. On Jan. 14, the predicted high is 2 C and the low is -4, ideal conditions for slush.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Egan: Then, one winter, there was no skating on the Rideau Canal Back to video

‘Twas ever thus?

People’s memories of weather are certainly selective and usually pretty horrible. Nine feet of snow by Christmas, wolves at the door, so cold Grandma and the dog froze, that kind of thing. So we’ll be annoying and turn to actual facts.

A portion of the Canal first opened for skating on Jan. 18, 1971, though it is unclear if that precise date was weather-driven or chosen for operational or ceremonial reasons. For the next 11 years, it opened in late December, including its earliest opening in 1972 amd ’81, when the frozen surface was ready on Dec. 18. Even for the next 14 years (until 1995/96), it never opened later than Jan. 6.