River trail, ski trails shut down due to abnormally warm weather in Winnipeg

Well that didn't last long.

Winnipeg's Nestaweya River Trail is closed, just five days after it opened along the Red and Assiniboine rivers at The Forks.

The ice is still quite thick but the warm temperatures are making it puddle-filled and mushy, said Forks spokesperson Zach Peters.

"So, both for walking and skating, just not very enjoyable," he said, adding the upper trail around The Forks grounds is also closed, along with the canopy rink and even the Winnipeg 150 Winter Park.

Peters is hopeful the closure is only temporary. At minimum, the overnight temperatures need to fall below the freezing mark.

That didn't happen Monday night and isn't in the forecast for Tuesday night, either. However, Wednesday's overnight low is forecast to be –4 C.

"Hopefully they'll be able to mitigate some of the slush and pooling that could happen and then they'll be able to reopen," Peters said about the crew that works on the trail.

Daytime highs for the next few days, though, range from 1 C to 6 C, so that could undo any overnight freezing.

Normal temperatures for this time of year are a daytime high of –11 C and overnight low of –21 C.

"It feels rather bizarre to be talking about warm temperatures like this at the end of January, beginning of February. We certainly hope there's a resurgence of winter simply for the use of the river trail," Peters said.

"We saw an absolutely fantastic weekend in terms of use and guests out there this past weekend, and so we do hope that winter decides to come back."

The Forks posts the status of its trails on its website.

The Nestaweya path, which opened shortly before noon on Thursday — the latest opening ever — is relatively short. It goes from The Forks port to nearly the Norwood Bridge on the Red, for a total of about 500 metres.

In past years, the path has been anywhere from six to 10 kilometres in length.

The weather is also playing havoc with the trails at the Windsor Park Nordic Centre.

The club's eight kilometres of trails are closed for Tuesday and Wednesday "to preserve what little snow we have during this warm spell," according to a posting on its website.

The nordic centre is located at the Windsor Park Golf Course and clubhouse in Winnipeg's St. Vital neighbourhood.