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Open water in January

BC lakes that stay open through the winter

Most of British Columbia is under ice from December. A few lakes are not, and they are close to the same few every year: low water near the coast, and the big deep lakes that carry too much stored heat to skin over. This page holds both, out of a model run over 65 winters of air temperature.

34the model leaves open all winter
84freeze in some winters only
65winters behind every row
470 of 1,821placed lakes modelled so far

The 34 the model leaves open

Two different things put a lake here, and the last column says which. 21 froze in fewer than half of their 65 winters, which is the point the model stops publishing dates for a lake. The most open of them is Fairy Lake, which the model froze in 11 of its 65 winters. The other 13 are big or deep enough that air temperature on its own is not a guide to them: the model would put ice on Okanagan Lake most Januarys, and it does not go.

Open does not mean the model never once froze it. Not one lake in the file has a winter count of zero. Every row below carries the number of winters the model did put ice on that lake, out of 65, and that number is the honest version of this page's headline.

The other side of this page is the ice report: the lakes that DO freeze, when the ice usually goes off each one, and what is frozen today. And why lakes winterkill is what a long cap of ice does to the fish under it, which is the reason a lake that stays open matters at all.

23 of the 34 are on Vancouver Island. 5 of them carry no maximum depth on file, and the column says so rather than guessing.

Largest first. "Winters with ice" is what the model did before the lake was called open, so it is a count of the model and not of anybody's memory.
LakeRegionSurface areaMax depthElevationWinters with iceWhy it is open
Arrow LakesKootenays50,000 ha287 m (942 ft)440 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Okanagan LakeOkanagan34,989 ha232 m (761 ft)339 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Upper Arrow LakeKootenays31,932 ha287 m (942 ft)440 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Shuswap LakeThompson-Nicola30,960 ha161 m (528 ft)346 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Lower Arrow LakeKootenays16,200 ha180 m (591 ft)434 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Kennedy LakeVancouver Island6,532 hanot on filenot on file62 of 65Too big and deep
Cowichan LakeVancouver Island6,228 ha152 m (499 ft)164 m45 of 65Too big and deep
Mabel LakeOkanagan5,964 ha192 m (630 ft)396 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Stave LakeLower Mainland5,641 hanot on file78 m57 of 65Too big and deep
Nitinat LakeVancouver Island2,709 ha36 m (118 ft)0 m22 of 65Freezes rarely
Kalamalka LakeOkanagan2,564 ha141.7 m (465 ft)392 m65 of 65Too big and deep
Alouette LakeLower Mainland1,589 ha140 m (459 ft)120 m54 of 65Too big and deep
Chilliwack LakeLower Mainland1,181 ha114 m (374 ft)618 m64 of 65Too big and deep
Horne LakeVancouver Island817 ha50 m (164 ft)119 m32 of 65Freezes rarely
Chehalis LakeLower Mainland630 ha138.1 m (453 ft)217 m62 of 65Too big and deep
Cameron LakeVancouver Island438 ha43 m (141 ft)185 m32 of 65Freezes rarely
Illusion LakesVancouver Island430 ha24 m (79 ft)138 m32 of 65Freezes rarely
Makii (Maggie) LakeVancouver Island250 ha34.8 m (114 ft)32 m13 of 65Freezes rarely
St. Mary LakeVancouver Island178 ha16.8 m (55 ft)42 m29 of 65Freezes rarely
Doobah LakeVancouver Island105 hanot on file32 m25 of 65Freezes rarely
Prospect LakeVancouver Island68 ha13 m (43 ft)70 m20 of 65Freezes rarely
Langford LakeVancouver Island61 ha15 m (49 ft)60 m20 of 65Freezes rarely
Spider LakeVancouver Island55 ha12.7 m (42 ft)125 m32 of 65Freezes rarely
Pachena LakeVancouver Island54 hanot on file83 m18 of 65Freezes rarely
Elk / Beaver LakeVancouver Island46 ha20 m (66 ft)60 m20 of 65Freezes rarely
Thetis LakeVancouver Island35 ha39.6 m (130 ft)56 m19 of 65Freezes rarely
Fairy LakeVancouver Island32 ha5 m (16 ft)30 m11 of 65Freezes rarely
Kemp LakeVancouver Island25 ha18 m (59 ft)33 m18 of 65Freezes rarely
Matheson LakeVancouver Island22 ha5 m (16 ft)20 m15 of 65Freezes rarely
Glen LakeVancouver Island16 ha14 m (46 ft)63 m20 of 65Freezes rarely
Lizard LakeVancouver Island9 hanot on file70 m13 of 65Freezes rarely
Larry LakeVancouver Island8 ha42 m (138 ft)94 m14 of 65Freezes rarely
Durrance LakeVancouver Island8 ha16 m (52 ft)135 m25 of 65Freezes rarely
Prior LakeVancouver Island1 ha44.4 m (146 ft)37 m19 of 65Freezes rarely

The 84 that freeze in some winters and not others

These are the lakes on the edge. The bar is the share of the 65 winters the model put ice on them, least often first, and the date is the middle ice-off of the winters it did. A lake near the top of this list is open more often than not.

LakeWinters with iceIce-offElevation

  1. Bainbridge Lake51%ice off 21 Jan150 m
  2. Flora Lake52%ice off 17 Jan198 m
  3. Dougan Lake54%ice off 15 Jan60 m
  4. Stowell Lake (Lake Stowell)54%ice off 15 Jan67 m
  5. Weston Lake54%ice off 15 Jan62 m
  6. Cusheon Lake57%ice off 16 Jan92 m
  7. Holden Lake58%ice off 17 Jan8 m
  8. Priest Lake58%ice off 17 Jan8 m
  9. Skull Lake60%ice off 15 Jan53 m
  10. Toquaht (Toquart) Lake60%ice off 15 Jan67 m
  11. Blackburn Lake62%ice off 17 Jan101 m
  12. Michael Lake62%ice off 18 Jan25 m
  13. Misty Lake63%ice off 22 Jan72 m
  14. Quamichan Lake63%ice off 18 Jan26 m
  15. Beaver Lake65%ice off 22 Jan88 m
  16. Esary Lake65%ice off 1 Feb253 m
  17. Fuller Lake65%ice off 16 Jan52 m
  18. Kathleen Lake65%ice off 26 Jan100 m
  19. Long Lake (Nanaimo)65%ice off 16 Jan34 m
  20. Quennell Lake65%ice off 16 Jan33 m
  21. Spectacle Lake66%ice off 20 Jan370 m
  22. Harewood (Extension) Lake68%ice off 17 Jan111 m
  23. Bear Lake69%ice off 18 Jan163 m
  24. Burnaby Lake69%ice off 20 Jan10 m
  25. Maynard Lake69%ice off 30 Jan170 m
  26. Three Isle Lake71%ice off 30 Jan210 m
  27. Crabapple Lake72%ice off 23 Jan427 m
  28. Deer Lake (Burnaby)72%ice off 20 Jan19 m
  29. Sasamat Lake72%ice off 23 Jan60 m
  30. Crystal Lake74%ice off 18 Jan150 m
  31. Keogh Lake74%ice off 3 Feb244 m
  32. Sarita Lake74%ice off 20 Jan54 m
  33. Nanaimo Lakes75%ice off 20 Jan195 m
  34. Nanaimo Lakes75%ice off 20 Jan196 m
  35. Shawnigan Lake75%ice off 21 Jan115 m
  36. Dimple Lake77%ice off 22 Jan269 m
  37. Mayo Lake78%ice off 21 Jan172 m
  38. Hayward Lake80%ice off 5 Feb41 m
  39. Lafarge (Pinetree Gravel Pit) Lake80%ice off 24 Jan33 m
  40. Francis Lake83%ice off 27 Jan217 m
  41. Cheam Lake85%ice off 8 Feb33 m
  42. Errock (Squakum) Lake85%ice off 10 Feb14 m
  43. Grace Lake85%ice off 16 Feb100 m
  44. Hatzic Lake And Slough85%ice off 15 Feb1 m
  45. Jerry Sulina Park Pond85%ice off 6 Feb18 m
  46. Maxwell Lake (Lake Maxwell)85%ice off 22 Jan315 m
  47. Morris Lake85%ice off 5 Feb10 m
  48. Sardis Park Pond85%ice off 10 Feb15 m
  49. Trout Lake (Sasquatch Park)85%ice off 11 Feb85 m
  50. Wolf Lake85%ice off 11 Feb97 m
  51. Cranberry Lake86%ice off 17 Feb161 m
  52. Cultus Lake86%ice off 22 Jan45 m
  53. Rice Lake (North Vancouver)86%ice off 27 Jan199 m
  54. Buntzen Lake88%ice off 9 Feb130 m
  55. Como Lake88%ice off 8 Feb120 m
  56. Devils Lake88%ice off 18 Feb86 m
  57. Lizard Pond88%ice off 9 Feb325 m
  58. Rooney Lake88%ice off 25 Feb229 m
  59. Whonnock Lake88%ice off 17 Feb172 m
  60. Little Main Lake (Quadra Island)89%ice off 13 Feb10 m
  61. Main Lake (Quadra Island)89%ice off 13 Feb10 m
  62. Mike Lake89%ice off 25 Feb243 m
  63. Mill Lake (Abbotsford)89%ice off 26 Jan52 m
  64. Rolley Lake89%ice off 24 Feb218 m
  65. Stramberg Lake89%ice off 17 Feb34 m
  66. Village Bay Lake89%ice off 13 Feb10 m
  67. Stocking Lake91%ice off 4 Feb362 m
  68. Browning Lake92%ice off 15 Feb125 m
  69. Deer Lake (Sasquatch Park)92%ice off 17 Feb196 m
  70. Hicks Lake92%ice off 24 Feb212 m
  71. Weaver Lake92%ice off 3 Mar254 m
  72. Clear Lake (Quadra Island)94%ice off 14 Feb57 m
  73. Francis Lake94%ice off 14 Mar385 m
  74. Kawkawa Lake94%ice off 10 Feb56 m
  75. Rosen Lake (Read Island)94%ice off 14 Feb56 m
  76. Brohm Lake95%ice off 15 Mar266 m
  77. Davis Lake95%ice off 23 Feb161 m
  78. Morte Lake95%ice off 19 Feb91 m
  79. Sayres (Cedar) Lake97%ice off 3 Mar197 m
  80. Ross Lake98%ice off 10 Mar486 m
  81. Schkam Lake98%ice off 24 Feb160 m
  82. Skaha Lake98%ice off 10 Feb338 m
  83. Sunrise Lake98%ice off 6 Apr411 m
  84. Tadjiss Lake98%ice off 18 Feb509 m

This is a model, not an observation

Every row on this page is a degree-day calculation on ERA5 air temperature at the lake's own coordinate, corrected to the lake's elevation. It has never been checked against a person standing on the shore. It knows nothing about depth, wind, inflow or springs, and a lake this page calls open can still have had ice on it in a winter the model missed.

Nothing here tells you whether ice will hold you, and nothing here should ever be used to decide that. Ice varies year to year and across a single lake. Check locally, in person, every time.

How it is built

Air temperature comes from ERA5 via Open-Meteo, 1960-2025. A lake freezes when five days in a row average below zero, the ice grows with the square root of accumulated freezing degree-days, and it melts once the days turn positive, snow first and then ice. A thaw that clears the ice reopens the water. 470 of the 1,821 lakes in the atlas with a verified position have been run so far, and the rest are being added a batch at a time, so the counts on this page move as the record grows.

Reading the water