Quebec Ice Jam Observations with Severity and Emergency Ratings

Quebec's Ministry of Public Security database contains historical ice jam observations from municipal river monitoring committees. Records characterize events using severity and emergency levels defined by the Canadian Common Alert Protocol. Data is provided in multiple formats including SHP, GEOJSON, and CSV.

Use Cases

• Map ice jam locations from geographic coordinate system data to identify high-risk river sections.
• Analyze SEVERITY LEVEL classifications (Extreme, Significant, Moderate, Minor) to correlate with reported property damage.
• Assess EMERGENCY level (Immediate, Expected, Future, Past) to model required response timelines for flooding events.
• Evaluate STATE field entries to distinguish real event observations from simulated scenarios.

Strengths

• Data is structured according to the standardized Canadian Common Alert Protocol Profile (PC-PAC).
• Includes qualitative and quantitative field observations on river state and ice cover.
• Available in multiple geospatial and tabular formats (SHP, GEOJSON, WFS, CSV, HTML, WMS).

Limitations

• Sample data and specific record counts are unavailable, preventing assessment of dataset scale.
• Relies on observer-estimated severity and emergency levels, which may introduce subjectivity.
• Automated translation of metadata may have introduced inaccuracies in field descriptions.

Provenance

Source

Government and Municipalities of Québec, Ministry of Public Security (MSP) Operations Directorate.

Collection Method

Compiled from digital documents, papers, event reports, and field observations by municipal river monitoring committees.

Time Range

Historical observations, specific range not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 - 25.

Geography

Quebec waterways.