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Week of March 29th, 2020

Weekly Temperature
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Mar 29 Mar 30 Mar 31 Apr 01 Apr 02 Apr 03 Apr 04
High 15.9 7.5 6.7 8.3 9.2 7.0 14.7
Low 4.8 2.2 2.6 -0.7 1.6 1.2 3.8

Although schools were closed due to COVID-19 earlier in March, this felt like the first week that COVID-19 restrictions really came into force. The beach was closed by the province early April, so I started to explore new trails.

Sunday, March 29th, 2020 – Looking across the bay to the ski hills at Blue Mountain.
Sunday, March 29th, 2020 – walking toward beach one on a warm morning in late March.
Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 – While the folks at Auto-Tech ‘N Tire swapped my winter tires out, I used the time to walk down parts of the beach I visit less often. You can see the high water here. Usually this tree is ~ 60 feet from the shore, but today the shore was impassible.
Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 – A deserted beach 2 boardwalk on April fools day.
Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 – looking east across beach one. Because of continued record water levels, the town of Wasaga Beach has decided not to try and clear beach drive. The plan for the summer is to create barriers to further erosion and treat the roadway as part of the beach.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 – Premier Ford announced that provincial parks including Wasaga Beach are closed to the public, so this is my last beach picture for a while – for the next few weeks I’ll walk parallel to the beach, or explore other trails in the area.
Friday, April 3rd, 2020 – This trail is a 10 minute  walk from our home.  I’m too afraid of heights to walk this regularly! East of CR-10 near Knox along high dunes along the Nottawasaga River. There is a 100 foot drop from this point on the trail.
Friday, April 3rd, 2020 – this pictures taken walking along high sand dunes along the river. Even 1 km south of the beach, there is nothing but sand!
Friday, April 3rd, 2020 – Jorja shares a great post on her driveway.  Schools have been closed for a few weeks.
Saturday, April 4th, 2020 – a few minutes from our place – walking along the sand dunes that border the Nottawasaga River along the east side of CR-10 near Knox. The beach remains closed due to COVID-19.

 

 

 

 

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Week of March 22nd, 2020

Weekly Temperature
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Mar 22 Mar 23 Mar 24 Mar 25 Mar 26 Mar 27 Mar 28
High 3.2 3.0 7.4 11.1 11.5 4.5 9.9
Low -10.1 -2.8 -0.2 -1.1 0.5 -2.1 -2.1

A few online friends commented that this week had it all. I saw a stand-up paddle boarder, a jogger, and a snowmobiler enjoying the last traces of snow all on the same day.

It’s unusual to see open water along the shore in March. You’ll have a hard time convincing me that global warm isn’t real.

Sunday, March 22nd, 2020 – looking west from Wasaga Beach. This is the first paddleboarder I’ve seen this season. You don’t want to fall in the water this time of year, but this person looks well prepared.
Sunday, March 22nd, 2020 – This was funny. We got up to 3C today, and with full sun and no wind it felt like a summer day.  There was one last snowmobiler criss-crossing the beach enjoying the last of the snow (mostly slush as you can see from the rooster tail above)
Sunday, March 22nd, 2020 – I caught the same snowmobilers heading west – taking from near 13th street a few minutes after the previous picture.
Monday, March 23rd, 2020 – Turns out that Monday would have been better for snowmobilers – looking east across Beach One. The road is closed due to high water and will be for the summer. It’s calm today, but with record high water on Georgian Bay waves routinely sweep across the road.
Monday, March 23rd, 2020 – Taking looking east along the boardwalk just west of Beach one.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020 – An incredible day. Looking across the Bay towards Collingwood and the Blue Mountains from Wasaga Beach.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020 – we had south winds today helping keep the water level low. Looking east from near 18th street on my way to be main beach.
Friday, March 27th, 2020 – Usually I enter the beach at 18th street and walk east. Today, I headed west. Evidence of high water and damage is much more obvious heading west.
Saturday, March 28th, 2020 – First boat of the season. It was far off shore, but I suspect this is the OPP boat. I understand other boats are not being allowed to launch from local marinas due to the COVID-19 emergency.
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Week of March 15th, 2020

Weekly Temperature
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Mar 21
High -0.6 6.9 6.2 5.4 8.8 15.6 22.9
Low -5.8 -8.3 -1.0 -4.9 -1.8 -5.4 -9.7

This is the week that the ice came off of South Georgian Bay.  March 20th is exceptionally early to lose the ice. 2020 is definitely one of the milder winters that I can recall.

Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – The Bat is open except for shore ice pictures here. You can see that pressure from incoming waves are causing the ice to fragment into slabs of ice.
Sunday, March 15th, 2020 – Looking easy on my daily trek towards beach one. The sand is frozen solid.
Monday, March 16th, 2020 – well above freezing today. The ice fragmenting into slabs is more pronounced.
Wednesday, March 18th, 2020 – Another warm day. Taking looking east just east of 18th street. You can see a damaged white fence that was well back from the water in prior years.
Thursday, March 19th, 2020 – The “melt continues” – Looking west across the bay toward Collingwood with the ski hills @ the Blue Mountains in the background. The bay is peppered with floating ice. As the ice melts, the concentration of sand relative to water increases making the ice increasingly dirty.
Friday, March 20th, 2020 – Strong west winds today pummeling the shore – this is almost certainly the end of the shore ice on Wasaga Beach.
Saturday, March 21st, 2020 – Sure enough – Saturday morning the ice is gone. Usually the water is far away from the boardwalk, but the water is at record high levels still. The beach is really ugly – note some weeping tile on the beach. As the high water does damage across the Great Lakes, all kinds of debris is piling up on shore.