Boatnerd Discussion Forum

In 1989, they closed December 28th due to ice.

In 1945, they extended the closing to January 8th to get four newly built cargo ships out for the war effort, but they usually closed December 15th until the late 1960s. The locks were kept open until December 31st in 1967, to January 5th in 1969, to Jan 15th in 1970, Jan 31st in 1971, Feb 1st 1972, Feb 8th 1973, Feb 7th 1974, and then remained open year round until Jan 15, 1980.

The traditional closing date at the Soo Locks was December 15. That closing date got pushed further into late December starting in 1967, then January, then February until finally year-round navigation through the locks was achieved for several year in the 1970s.

Since those experimental year-round operations at the Soo, the closing date has been set as January 15, with an extension on closing based on the demands of commerce and weather conditions.

However, there have been cases when the locks were closed earlier. A good example was the December 28, 1989 closing of the Soo Locks due to the severe ice and weather conditions that were occurring in December of that year.

Has the Soo Locks ever close down earlier than January 15th due to extreme weather conditions? TIA