Wekweeti, Dettah ice roads now closed

Several seasonal ice roads in the Northwest Territories, including the Wekweeti and Dettah routes, have closed earlier than their long‐term averages, with additional roads on short notice closures due to warming temperatures.

AI Comment from Gemini 2.5 Pro:

This early closure of the Wekweeti and Dettah ice roads aligns with previous observations posted on LEO Network documenting the increasing challenges faced by northern winter roads due to warming trends and milder conditions.> Past reports detail issues at both ends of the typical winter road season. Warm weather previously caused delayed openings, including for the Dettah ice road in 2017 and the Wekweeti winter road in 2019, leading to community impacts. Similarly, unseasonably mild temperatures have forced early or temporary closures in the past, such as the Mackenzie Valley Winter Road becoming impassable in March 2019 and the road to the NWT's diamond mines closing due to heat that same month. A recent mild winter also significantly delayed the opening of the ice road vital for Arctic diamond mines, disrupting essential supply transport.> These collective observations underscore the vulnerability of this critical infrastructure to changing environmental conditions in the Northwest Territories.