Ice Skating on the Canals of Amsterdam

Ice Skating on the Canals of Amsterdam

Feb 20, 2021

What a difference a week makes! Last weekend thousands of Amsterdam were ice skating on the canals of Amsterdam.

But the ice and snow melted away by Tuesday noon. And this weekend we're having spring-like temperatures.

Right now, at the end of the afternoon, it's 16° Celsius outside (60.8° Fahrenheit). Not that spring has arrived. It's still February after all. And March traditionally has a few surprises in store. March is characterized by erratic weather. As we note, the old joke that Holland has four seasons a day is more likely to make sense in March than in any other month.

Anyway, in the 'good old days' ice skating was an almost yearly event. Global warming (or, if you will, climate change) has put an end to that. Before this year the last time people were able to skate on the canals was in 2018. Before that, 2012. And just like in 2018 this year's skating fun was short-lived. In many place the ice really wasn't thick enough to support large numbers of skaters.

Amsterdam television station AT5 broadcast a video in which bystanders saved six people who had broken through the ice:

Speaking for which... in a few months the weather will hopefully be warm enough to swim more comfortably again -- in the canals, or elsewhere.

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