Since the later 2/3 of December and the first one and a half week of January was warm. Warm as in around +5 C every day, no snow to be found anywhere and my first backyard ice rink was well gone before Christmas. Well winter came and the last two weeks has been around -15 C every day, sometimes as warm as -2 C and sometimes as cold as -25 C but -15 C seem to be the standard temperature.
So without too much trouble it was easy to create another backyard ice rink, the second one this winter. And I learned a few things more about creating the ice. -5 C is bit too warm. The water doesn't freeze fast enough and it tends to melt too much of the already made ice so you get bubbles and it may break trough the ice wall on the sides. You make one to contain the water as you make the ice thicker. -20C and colder is too cold. If you want lots of thick ice and a good ice wall it's great. When you have come to the other end of the ice rink the first part you have hosed down has already frozen over. And also if you get a lot of water on it so you get wave movement on the ice those wave pasterns can also freeze over. Not an even smooth ice but great for building mass. -15 C is ideal, you get all of the water you want on the ice and and it freezes slough enough to build a smooth surface.
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