Warm weather closes sections of Winnipeg river trail

The kilometres-long skating trail on Winnipeg's Red and Assiniboinerivers has shortened as The Forks announced the closure of some sections on Tuesday due tounseasonably warm February weather.

The Forks confirmed the closure of the Centennial River Trail from Osborne Street to the Hugo Street dockson the AssiniboineRiver due to poor conditions.

The Forksalso lists the stretch on the Red River from Churchill Drive to the St. Vital Bridge as closed, and the sections that remain open are listed as having"variable" conditions.

Since the beginning of the month, Winnipeg has gone from a nearly two-week cold snap to a stretch of days near or above 0 C. The quality of the ice has suffered as a result.

The trail officially opened for the season with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 12, though the trails had already been in use for several days before then.

In the past six weeks the trail was extended several kilometres, from The Forks west down the Assiniboine River to Hugo, and south down the Red River.

The network of skating trails at The Forks' Arctic Glacier Park is still open.