OLDS - The last of the Town of Olds’ outdoor rinks was closed Thursday until further notice as temperatures continued to warm up from last week’s extreme cold, leaving water where ice once lay.
Centennial Outdoor Rink is officially closed due to unsafe ice conditions, Town of Olds officials updated the community on Feb. 27.
“We love a good skate as much as you do, but soft, slushy ice just isn’t it,” officials posted on social media.
The uptown rink’s closure follows the closure of the municipality’s other three rinks earlier in the week for similar reasons.
On Monday, rinks at Vistas Pond, Briegel Pond and Winter Lake officially closed until further notice “because skating on water just isn’t the same,” the municipality wrote in its Feb. 24 update.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the temperature for the Airdrie-Cochrane-Olds-Sundre area was expected to hit a high of 13 degrees Celsius (C) on Thursday, Feb. 27. Gusting winds were forecast with wind at 60 kilometres an hour (km/h) gusting to 90 kilometres an hour and diminishing to 20 to 40 km/h in the afternoon.
Overnight, a low of -8 C was forecasted with a high of 7 C for Friday.
Messaging from the Town of Olds suggests outdoor rinks could return pending the weather.
“To reopen, we’ll need several days of solid cold temps—so for now, we’re in a wait-and-see mode.”
Sundre's rinks closed too
Due to the recent warm weather, the ice on the outdoor rinks at Sundre's Royal Purple Park and beside the skate park has melted and is no longer safe for use, the Town of Sundre advised on Tuesday.
"As a result, both rinks are now closed, likely for the remainder of the season," the municipality's Feb. 25 update said.
Last week, Mountain View County and nearby urban centres were under an extreme cold warning for several days up to Tuesday, Feb. 18 with temperatures in the -30s C.
