Iowa’s been on a weather rollercoaster lately, with record high temperatures in the 70s along with subzero wind chills and snow. While the forecast calls for more above-normal temps this week, most Iowans should keep their kayaks and canoes in the shed for now.
Todd Robertson, the river programs outreach coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says paddlers ought to wait for steady warmth to allow water temperatures to rise, and it could be April — or longer.
“The problem is, we haven’t had enough of these warm, consistent days to heat up the water. This is going to take several weeks,” Robertson says. “So between now and then, it’s not that people can’t go paddling, it’s that you have to know your skill level. You have to be fully prepared for immersion. You have to wear the right gear. You have to know how to read a river.”
That also means never paddling alone. He says water temperatures in most areas of Iowa are in the low to mid 40s right now.
“When the temperature of the water is 60 degrees or below, you are automatically at risk for hypothermia if you become wet,” Robertson says. “That’s a ways off before that water reaches a safe level. That’s why if I go out and paddle, I’m at least bare minimum wearing my full-body wetsuit, because I need that extra protection to buy me time to get out of the water.”
Air temperatures have been all over the map lately, but large bodies of water take time to warm up, so it may be at least a month before it’s safe for lesser experienced paddlers to load up their boats.
“We may have this rollercoaster for a while,” Robertson says. “I would say, especially if you’re not experienced out on the water, just wait a little while. We’ve got plenty of time. It’s great weather to go ride your bike and then you can go paddle later, but we got to let that water heat up.”
Robertson says he recently spotted some paddlers on a central Iowa river.
“I’m not sure what they were wearing, but my fingers were crossed that they wouldn’t hit the water,” he says, “because it’s just so ice cold that it is a danger.”
Cold water shock and hypothermia can set in quickly, Robertson says, if you fall into the water at current temperatures. Whatever the weather, he recommends paddlers always wear a life jacket, let a friend or loved one know where you’re going and when you’ll be back, and bring a dry bag with extra clothing to change into should you get wet.