Free youth basketball on Friday nights in Overbrook Community Centre
Would it really be winter if we didn’t have a weekly winter weather event? Get ready, Ottawa, because a wintry mix is heading our way and is expected to reach City limits later today.
Forecast and Conditions
Beginning late this afternoon and into the early evening, snow mixed with ice pellets is expected to make its debut with accumulation rates peaking between midnight and 4 am Friday, possibly reaching 1 centimetre an hour. As accumulation peaks, wind gusts of 40 kilometres an hour are also possible, creating the risk of visibility to suddenly be reduced to zero. Most of the snow is expected to fall before Friday morning’s commute, at which point the event will begin slowing down before making its exit during the early-to-mid afternoon hours. When it’s all said and done, 5 to 10 centimetres of snow may have come down on our network.
It’s important to note that a wintry mix is in the forecast. Environment Canada is showing signs that precipitations may rather come down as ice pellets, making this event’s totals difficult to predict.
With a wintry mix possible over the next 24 hours, please travel with care. Surfaces such as sidewalks, roadways and the winter cycling network may be slippery, especially during tomorrow morning’s commute. We are reminding everyone to adjust to the conditions of the network.
Our Response
Today, you may have seen our teams working on filling potholes across the City. These efforts will continue until the first sight of a snowflake, at which point they will need to be redeployed to respond to the changing conditions.
When accumulation begins – such as when you can begin to see tire tracks or footsteps on our transportation network – teams will begin clearing and treating sidewalks, priority roads, and the winter cycling network. We will be out throughout the night responding to the changing conditions.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the amount and type of precipitations predicted for this event, we have decided not to call a winter weather parking ban. However, we may need to work in residential neighbourhoods tomorrow and so we are asking everyone who can, to please find off-street parking where possible. This will help our operators to clear closer to the curb, helping with the flow of traffic, including that of our emergency vehicles.
Next Steps
Supervisors will continue to monitor the network and will redeploy resources when the conditions begin to change.
