Ice/water update for Nipissing

[kickingfrog]

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1541175

 

 

Wind, rain offer no respite

Posted By DAVE DALE, THE NUGGET

Posted 8:30am April 27th

 

 

Heavy rain and steady winds on the weekend may have spelled the end to Lake Nipissing ice and could create havoc across a watershed already on a flood watch.

 

Little more than 14 millimetres of rain was measured at North Bay Jack Garland Airport Saturday, but observers said more than that fell south of the city in areas that feed Lake Nipissing.

 

The French River outlet is already at its maximum level, with water approaching the foundations of shoreline homes and cottages.

 

Public Works Canada said last week it can't let any more water through the dams near Dokis First Nation, meaning Lake Nipissing will have to make room for whatever comes from rain and the last of the snow melting in the northern highlands.

 

The major basin, fed primarily by the Sturgeon River providing 60% of the inflows, is more than 50 centimetres higher than normal for this time of year.

 

As for the ice, pilot Marc Charron said late Sunday afternoon he could still see ice jamming around the shoreline of the Manitou Islands from the window of his home on the escarpment overlooking North Bay.

 

The district representative of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association said he'll swing over the lake this morning before heading to Toronto to see if there's any ice left.

 

The Nugget has been tracking the annual ice out date for Lake Nipissing since 1901.

 

Last year, the official date was April 26, although a snowstorm the weekend prior had kept planes and helicopters grounded. For the two years prior, it was April 24.

 

There are several pools in the city where people try to guess which day the ice is officially declared off the lake.