But it was difficult to keep tabs on conditions at his favourite outdoor rinks. That eventually led to the creation of website ODR Atlas last year.

Read more:

• How a Sask. dad gave Sunset Estates kids a place to skate again
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“I first wanted to compile as much as I could all the best skating locations across Canada, as people are always happy to share those. And so even if you’re travelling, you can go and find it,” Flanigan said in an interview.

“But then the next layer of that was, well, could we build a bit of an algorithm to tell you not only where the best rinks are, but what the condition, or likely condition of those rinks are at any given moment.”

It’s information that’s particularly relevant amid a January warm spell in the Prairies. The City of Regina says crews are working to manage the loss of ice, but it can’t flood any ice surfaces until the temperature drops back below -5 C.

Moose Jaw has had to close several of its outdoor rinks, due to the ice becoming soft.

In addition to listing outdoor rinks and rating them based on amenities, Flanigan’s site uses an algorithm he designed to estimate ice conditions.

“So the first piece of data is, how is the weather currently?” he explained. “Is it windy, snowy, warm, cold, frigid — whatever the conditions are as of this moment.

“And then we mix that with a little bit of historical data from the last three days. So that way we know, has there been a big melt in the last three days? Has there been a large accumulation of snow or rain or anything like that?”

As of Tuesday afternoon, for example, ice conditions for Regina’s rinks were rated at 57 — “fair ice, windy.” In Saskatoon, it was slightly better, at 62: “Fair ice, soft.”

The site provides data for 840 rinks across Canada in nearly 400 communities.

Flanigan said skating outdoors goes beyond keeping fit and getting outside during the darkness of winter.

“It’s where you see kids get to practice some of their first moves. It’s where you see dads taking their little ones. It’s where you see teenagers hanging out on a Friday night playing a little bit of stick and puck,” he said.

“And so I think there is a little bit of just that Canadiana that goes into outdoor rinks, and there’s a beautiful part of our winter culture here.”

Read more:

• How a Sask. dad gave Sunset Estates kids a place to skate again
• Sask. government to invest $3.2 million a year in community rinks
• Winter warm up making perfect snow carving conditions for sculptor

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• Meewasin Skating Rink open for the season in Kiwanis Memorial Park
• Highway 10 blocked, RCMP says to avoid travelling in southern Saskatchewan
• Unifor names man who died at Esterhazy mine

“Outdoor skating is a long-standing winter activity in Regina, and the rinks provide residents with safe and accessible spaces to enjoy throughout the season,” said Diana Burton, Director of Recreation & Cultural Services in a statement.

The city maintains and operates more than 50 outdoor skating rinks, eight indoor arenas, and six shinny sites.

Currently 40 of those are open, including Victoria Park, with more locations to open depending on ice preparations and conditions.

The city says outdoor rinks are typically open from December to late February, depending on weather and ice conditions.

“In addition to outdoor rinks, several indoor arenas offer public skating throughout the season, including free indoor public skates at select locations during the holiday period. Residents can find the most up-to-date information on indoor and outdoor skating locations, schedules and admission details at Regina.ca/Rinks,” said the city in a statement.

Read more: 

• Meewasin Skating Rink open for the season in Kiwanis Memorial Park
• Highway 10 blocked, RCMP says to avoid travelling in southern Saskatchewan
• Unifor names man who died at Esterhazy mine

In November 2024, the Eastview community rink had their snowblower stolen. The blower was replaced shortly after that thanks to a wave of community support.

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• Woman charged after allegedly hitting parked cars while fleeing police

Then in January, the Hampton Village community rink had their snow sweeper stolen, along with two jerry cans full of gas and a storage shed lock was damaged.

Kirk Campbell, rink co-ordinator for Hampton Village, called the thefts really frustrating.

“It’s all volunteer time, it’s hard enough to get volunteers as it is,” he said. “You make time during your off hours to clean the rink, tidy up and then this happens.”

It’s not just the volunteers who are affected, it’s also the kids who look forward to lacing up their skates and skating on the outdoor rink.

Hampton Village community rink had a storage shed broken into in January,  and a snow sweeper along with two jerry cans full of gas were stolen. (Kirk Campbell/Submitted)

Campbell said  kids have been helping out by shovelling the ice off.

“It is a very good community .. people will tend to help,” he said. “It makes it a little easier for us (the volunteers) when we go out at eight o’clock, nine o’clock at night to do our duties.”

Campbell said extra security measures have been added since the thefts.

“We have added some additional locking mechanisms on the facility,” said Campbell. “The city actually did that through our city connection.”

The City of Saskatoon said in a statement it provides a matching grant of up to $400 for community associations to pays for natural gas, electricity, or other utility costs.

The city also matches grants between $1,000 and $2,000 depending on how many outdoor rink facilities are operated by a community association.

Campbell said he hopes to see better security provided to every community rink, whether it’s better locks and doors or something like security cameras. He also said he had heard from other communities who have been dealing with similar issues.

On Facebook the Stonebridge Community Association posted a notice that their rink shack was broken into and a snowblower was stolen.

In a reply to that social media post, Avalon Community Association said it had also gone through the same thing a number of times.

Campbell said it’s really heartbreaking to see this happen all across the city.

“It’s disheartening to see what is going on in our community,” he said.

In an email to CKOM, Saskatoon Police Service said it was only able to find a small handful of related calls between January 2024 and January 2025, some relating to theft under $5,000.

Read more:

• Three arrested, many charges laid after firearms found in Regina traffic stop
• Grenfell man, 82, dead after rollover south of Highway 1: Sask. RCMP
• Woman charged after allegedly hitting parked cars while fleeing police

The City of Regina announced Thursday that it’s preparing to reopen most of its outdoor boarded skating rinks after determining the ice melt wasn’t so bad that the rinks couldn’t be salvaged.

On Feb. 1, the city closed most of those rinks because warmer temperatures had damaged the ice surfaces. The colder weather of late has allowed crews to repair the rinks.

“Some of the boarded rinks are open now, while others continue to be flooded and will open soon,” the city said in a media release.

However, the city added that the majority of its non-boarded rinks couldn’t be saved and now are closed for the season.

The rinks that currently are open are:

• Assiniboine Park (non-boarded)
• City Square Plaza/Victoria Park (non-boarded)
• Dr. A.E. Perry (boarded)
• Eastview Park (boarded)
• Fairchild Park (boarded)
• Grassick Playground (boarded)
• Leslie Park (boarded)
• McMurchy Park (boarded)
• McNab Park (non-boarded)
• McVeety Park (boarded)
• Rosemont School Park (boarded)
• Ruth M. Buck Park (boarded)

More information on the outdoor rinks can be found here.

The City of Regina announced Thursday that the recent spell of warm weather is causing the ice to melt at a number of outdoor rinks.

As a result, the city has closed the rinks at Elsie Mironuck (boarded), Eastview (boarded and non-boarded), Glen Elm (boarded), Judge Bryant (boarded and non-boarded), University Park (boarded), W.F. Ready (boarded), Horizon Station (boarded), Stan Oxelgren (boarded) and the Mount Pleasant speed skating oval.

“Residents are urged to stay off these ice surfaces, especially the boarded rinks,” the city said in a release. “The melted ice along the boards has exposed crusher dust and asphalt, posing a safety hazard for skaters.”

Some outdoor rinks remain open to skaters, as do the city’s indoor arenas. A list of the city’s rinks, as well as daily updates on all of the outdoor rinks, can be found here.

According to the release, crews will assess the rinks that are closed on Monday to see if the can be reopened this winter.

According to Ray Morgan, manager of parks maintenance and cemeteries, around 10 boarded rinks were officially open to the public as of Wednesday.

Morgan said there are approximately 26 boarded rinks in the city.

“They’re a little bit slower coming,” he said. “The warm weather has had an impact on them but these mornings have been cool, so we’re starting to make progress on them.”

Morgan said cooler morning temperatures can allow for rink flooding, When temperatures rise above zero in the afternoon, the city’s options become more limited.

“If there’s a rink in a shaded area, we might be able to get on (an) additional flood in the day, but what we’re seeing right now is those north sides of the rinks are getting the most sun exposure. So, we could put a flood down here in the morning but by noon it’s warming up quite rapidly,” he said.

“Because there’s no snow to help insulate and pack around the boards to prevent it from leaking, (in some cases) the water’s just running away from that north side of that rink. The other part of the rink.”

He said the other part of the rink is doing well, but an issue arises in a particular area where the sun and warm temperatures seem to culminate.

Morgan said the city’s website gives readers an idea of what rinks are open and what rinks are in progress.

Morgan said the weather was too warm last week for the city to officially deem several rinks open despite knowing that members of the public still use them. The city is projecting more rinks to open this week, however.

“When we’re saying it’s in progress, we’re still building ice. It’s not where we feel it’s ready but we know the public is using them,” he said.

According to a report that Morgan received Wednesday morning, there was a lot of activity at various rinks over the holiday break. Morgan also said the city has received many requests and inquiries about the rinks.

“There is a very high interest (in) outdoor rinks because it’s a recreational opportunity and it’s free. It’s free and open to the public,” Morgan said.

Morgan said flooding happens in the morning every day of the week.

“We are looking at the weather forecast regularly and if we’re starting to see positive, above-zero temperatures in the day we stop flooding but the majority of our flooding is from 6 a.m. to about 11 a.m. based on the weather that we’re having (that day),” Morgan said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Roman Hayter

The unusually warm weather is causing some delays at ice rinks across the city.

Mike Robinson, the co-ordinator of parks maintenance with the City of Regina, said the city started flooding rinks during the last week of November.

“Typically in a normal year, we can get the rinks built in two to three weeks,” Robinson said Monday. “But this year is unusually warm and it’s going to take quite a bit longer, I think.”

The warm weather is causing some delays in installation, he said.

“It just slows us down. On days that it’s freezing, we can flood, but on (days with) plus temperatures, we just don’t flood. It just doesn’t work,” Robinson said.

Maintenance can be a lot of work as well, when the snow actually falls.

“We clear the rinks of snow every day and flood them every second day,” he said. “If it’s a heavy snow, we use a mechanical snowblower to blow out the snow. Then we have our blade trucks that push the snow out the gate and we hand-shovel around the boards.”

Preparations for the rinks start in late fall.

“We level out the crusher dust that’s on the base and then we just start applying water,” Robinson said.

The city has 56 rink sites, 24 of which are boarded.

Thanks to the balmy temperatures, none of the rinks are ready yet.

“Hopefully if it stays below freezing, we should have then ready within a couple of weeks. But if it’s plus temperatures, it might take a few weeks longer,” Robinson said.

Mike Robinson of the City of Regina said the weather is delaying the opening of outdoor rinks in the city. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

He can’t say when the rinks will be ready, noting it’s all dependent on Mother Nature.

If warmer weather continues, people could see ice rinks being completed much later than normal, along with facilities for other popular winter activities like skiing and snowboarding.

Robinson is hoping for a Christmas miracle.

“We just hope to have these rinks done before Christmas,” he said.

Indoor rinks are fully operational for those with an itch to get on the ice. For a full list of rinks in the city and their status, click here.

In a media release Thursday, the city said crews are flooding more than 50 outdoor rinks around town, and most of the ones with boards should be ready to go after the weekend.

The city also has 19 newly designated toboggan hills:

• A.E. Wilson, 6617 Eighth Ave.
• Coventry Park, 20 Coventry Rd.
• Dr. Ferguson Park, 129 Brotherton Ave.
• Fairchild Park, 5350 Aerodrome Rd.
• French Park, 1055 North McIntosh St.
• Hopson Park, 3100 Rochdale Blvd.
• Lakewood Park, 6024 Whelan Dr.
• Mount Pleasant, 750 North Winnipeg St.
• Pascoe Park Bowl Sledding Hill, 3199 19th Ave.
• Plains Minnow Park, 3401 Green Lily Rd.
• Prince William Park, 3860 Buckingham Dr.
• Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Park, 111 East Broadway Ave.
• Regent Pool Park, 560 Elphinstone St.
• Rick Hansen Optimist Playground, 1010 McCarthy Blvd.
• Ripplinger Park, 4070 Chuka Dr.
• Ruth M. Buck, 6280 Sherwood Dr.
• St. Anne Park, 342 North Halifax St.
• Stewart Russell Park, 1912 East Seventh Ave.
• Walker School, 5637 Seventh Ave.

This year, the city will be opening five new community firepits. They’re to be available from noon to 11 p.m. daily; residents who want to use the pits are asked to bring their own seasoned firewood.

The cross-country ski trail at the Tor Hill Golf Course is opening soon and will offer beginner, intermediate and expert areas along its nine-kilometre length.

This year, the trail offers a double-wide path with the choice of a skate skiing track or a classic cross-country ski track. The trail is to be open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., weather permitting.

The city’s attractions this winter also include the Speed Skating Oval at Mount Pleasant and Crokicurl at select outdoor rinks in January.

More information about the activities that will be available this winter can be found here.

The southeast corner of the province, as well as the areas around Regina, Moose Jaw and Outlook, were under either snowfall or freezing rain warnings Thursday.

But while that type of weather can make shovelling the driveway, heading out on the roads and many other things a lot harder, it’s still a long shot from the deep freeze the province faced through the holidays and for more than a week in January. The high temperature in both Regina and Saskatoon on Thursday was -5 C.

That has given families an opportunity to get active.

Nolan Knelson and his two sons, Evan and Landon, hit the rink at Glen Elm Park on Thursday afternoon.

Wearing matching Edmonton Oilers jerseys, the boys skated, played some shinny, and learned some moves from their dad.

It was definitely a welcome break for them.

When asked what it’s like to be cooped up in -40 C weather, Landon summed it up in a couple of short words.

“Very boring,” he said.

It’s a relief for their dad, too.

“They need to get out (and) burn some energy so they’re not yelling at each other. Maybe I shouldn’t say that,” Nolan said with a laugh.

Unfortunately, the boys are learning remotely due to COVID cases at their school.

On the bright side, that’s why they were able to go skating in the middle of a weekday.

“We’re doing school at home for the week, and this is phys-ed, going out (and) having a bit of a skate,” Nolan said.

Rink weather should stick around for a while. Environment Canada is forecasting highs hovering around the 0 C mark for Friday and the weekend.

All of the city’s 23 outdoor boarded rinks and the 1,000-metre speed-skating oval in Mount Pleasant Park are now open. Crews are working in hopes of having the city’s 36 non-boarded rinks ready for the Christmas weekend.

In a media release, the city reminded residents not to use detention ponds or creeks for skating or other leisure activities because the ice isn’t thick enough.

Starting Monday, four rink shelters will be open to the public.

• Grassick Park Rink (3131 Third Ave.) — Noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Wednesday;
• Judge Bryant Rink (1418 Brown St.) — Noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Dec. 30;
• Lakeview Park Rink (2910 Athol St.) — Noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Dec. 30; and,
• Rochdale Park Rink (1127 Arnason St.) — Noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Dec. 31.

Masks have to be worn inside the shelters.

More information is available here.