Assessing and predicting the severity of mid-winter breakups based on Canada-wide river ice data

Mid-winter breakups (MWBs), consisting of the early breakup of the winter river ice cover before the typical spring breakup season, are becoming increasingly common events in cold region rivers. These events can lead to potentially severe flooding, while also altering the expected spring flow regime, yet data on these events is limited. In this study, a newly released Canadian River Ice Database (CRID), containing river ice data from 196 rivers …