The Columbia Valley’s Newspaper Since 1956
From Canal Flats to Spillimacheen
VALLEY ECHO T he
invermerevalleyecho.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Vol.57 56Issue Issue 40 Vol. 48
1
$ 05 INCLUDES GST PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NO. 7856
BERNIE RAVEN CHRIS RAVEN 1-866-598-7415 TEAMRAVEN.CA Offices in Panorama, Invermere & Fairmont
Christmas in the Valley hitting stands soon
Pg. 11
Cold snap prompts lake freeze
Light Up nights loaded with visual treats Pg. 24
MaxWell Realty Invermere
Off track
STEVE HUBRECHT steve@invermerevalleyecho.com
Lake Windermere froze last week with the official ice-up coming more than two weeks earlier than it did last year. The lake was frozen by Friday, November 22nd this year thanks to a recent cold snap — making Steven Levitt the winner of the Lake Windermere Ambassador's second annual community Catch the Freeze competition. Mr. Levitt was just one day off with his freeze-up prediction of November 23rd — the earliest guess in the competition. Although Lake Windermere iced up this year much earlier than it did in 2012 (on December 10th), a late November freeze has been common in recent years. “It's typical (for it to happen this time of year) because it's a really shallow lake and it's cold,” said Lake Windermere Ambassadors program co-ordinator Kirsten Harma. Since the lake is shallow, it doesn't stratify as deeper lakes do, and when the air gets cold as it did last week the entire lake gets cold all at once. “It was ready to freeze, it just needed some cold temperatures,” said Ms. Harma. Lake Windermere Ambassadors records show the freeze taking place on November 16th in 2011, December 5th in 2010, December 5th in 2009, November 25th in 2008, November 23rd in 2007, November 27th in 2006, December 3rd in 2005 and December 13th in 2004. The records also show trucks or ATVs typically being able to drive on the lake about three weeks — although sometimes later — after the initial freeze. Ms. Harma cautioned that just because the lake is frozen doesn't mean it's safe for driving yet. The roughly 50 guesses in this year's Catch the Freeze competition were, on aggregate, much later than the 46 guesses in the 2012 Catch the Freeze.
Steve Hubrecht/ Valley Echo photo A Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed at the north end of Lake Windermere below the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena in Invermere on Monday, November 25th. The train was carrying coal when several cars went off the rails sometime before noon. Sections of the track and several train wheels were badly damaged or broken. One train car in particular was leaning to one side, but no product was spilled and no people were hurt in the incident, which is currently under investigation. Workers on scene could not offer comment, and a press release explaining the cause of the accident was not available by the Valley Echo's Monday press deadline.
»See A3
VJ (Butch) Bishop Owner/Operator 4846 Holland Creek Ridge Rd. Invermere, BC V0A 1K0
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