Every year since 1934 with the exception of two years, the paper has been recording the ice out date in front of Rainy River.
I have been officially watching it since spring of 1989 and every year it seems to be like watching a pot boil; it just drags on and on, especially when it goes on in April.
But the truth of the matter is that the ice was not out late this year, but was in fact about average.
Here are some statistical facts from our ice out records:
•It has gone out 7 times on April 11th since 1934 (08, 03, 79, 77, 71, 54 and 34)
•The latest date on record of it going out is April 20th in 1934.
The earliest date on record was February 27, 1998.
•It has gone out once in February, 17 times in March and 55 times in April.
•In March, with the exception of 2000 (Mar. 10th) it went out March 21st or later.
•The most common week for the ice to go out is April 8-15 (22 times)
•The second most common week is Apr. 1-7 (16 times)
•It also went out 9 times from Apr. 16-20th
So there you have it... the ice out this year was in fact right on time.
If one excludes the two earliest dates of Feb. 27th and Mar. 10th, the average ice out date is in fact Apr. 11th.
–Until then,
Ken