Cold temps & high winds cause ice floes on Lake Simcoe

It was a shocking reminder of just how brutal winter was this year as a wall of ice crashed into a boat shed on Lake Simcoe, Tuesday.

The cause of the destruction is called an ice floe.

“An ice floe is pretty much just a pack of ice sitting out on the lake and when you get strong winds that are pretty persistent for a long time it shoves all of that ice up on shore and that’s exactly what we saw happen,” CityNews meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai said.

She said the record low winter temperatures, as well as the ice storm, caused the worst ice build up on the Great Lakes in decades.

The ice buildup could also mean that summer water activities will be delayed until June.

“Because it’s going to take a long time to melt all of the ice it’s also going to take a long time to warm up the waters of Lake Ontario so I think the effects of the cold and the ice out on the Great Lakes this winter is really going to be felt for another few months,” Ramsahai explained.

“In fact it could be quite late in the summer this year before swimming becomes comfortable out through cottage country.”

Ramsahai says there is a bonus to all that stubborn ice — fewer heat waves in the summer.

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