Winterlude suffers consequences of warm, wet weather

Above-zero temperatures have closed the Rideau Canal Skateway, the entire snowflake kingdom at Jacques-Cartier Park and half the site at Confederation Park is off-limits.

Yes, you can still see some of the ice sculptures at Confederation Park, but many have been covered with tarps to protect them from direct sunlight.

It's official: Winterlude has melted into Waterlude.

Of course, as the National Capital Commission reminds us, Mother Nature is unpredictable and temperatures are expected to drop later in the week.

(After Wednesday's high of 8 C with rain in the forecast. Yikes.)

"We've been doing this for such a long time that we're used to this and we have measures that we put in place to make sure that we protect our sites as much as possible," said Katherine Cyr, an NCC spokeswoman, in an interview on Monday.

"We protect [them] as much as we can, so that when we reopen it ... it's in a good condition."

When the temperature drops again, crews will begin working to rehabilitate the snowflake kingdom, the skateway and Confederation Park, Cyr said.

Here are some Waterlude pictures.