A winter system is headed towards the region tonight and will continue into Thursday and Friday.
This morning, residents woke up to frigid temperatures that we haven’t yet experienced this winter, and nipping at the heels of the cold air, is another storm system. Brace yourselves Ottawa, here we go again! A winter system is headed towards the region tonight and will continue into Thursday and Friday.
Forecast and Conditions
The forecast is similar to storms we have already seen this winter in that it is unpredictable and constantly changing, making it difficult to determine timing, accumulation and type of precipitation. One thing we know for sure, the Roads and Parking Services team has been monitoring the system closely, preparing the equipment, topping up materials and are ready!
Snow is expected to start this evening and continue through until Friday evening, with the main event expected to be Thursday night and into the day Friday, but its opening act tonight and into the day tomorrow is expected to give us some accumulation, too. Through the evening and overnight hours tonight, 2 to 3 centimetres is expected with another 2 to 4 centimetres anticipated through the day Thursday. With the temperature expected to rise Thursday evening, it’s possible parts of the region could see isolated pockets of freezing rain during the mid-to-late evening hours and 10 to 15 centimetres through the overnight hours and into Friday morning. Currently, the forecast indicates an additional 5 to 10 centimetres is possible during the day Friday.
Our Response
The team is getting our equipment prepared and our salt domes filled. All available resources will be deployed to respond, and given the nature of this event, it will take some time to clean up.
Our supervisors will be monitoring conditions throughout the day today, during the late evening and overnight, and crews will be deployed as precipitation begins. As the snow continues to fall tomorrow, our focus will be on clearing and treating priority sidewalks, roads, and the winter cycling network.
What’s Next?
The Roads and Parking Services team will continue to track this system and monitor temperatures over the next 48 hours because a shift in either could change accumulation amounts. However, crews will be ready to adjust to the dynamics of this storm.
We will be keeping you and the community informed with another update tomorrow morning on how the storm is progressing and what residents can expect with our response.
Travel with care.