As thousands of students and teachers return from Christmas break, they could be buried by a major winter storm that could dump 25-40 cm of snow on Ottawa.
Daniel Liota from Environment Canada, an operational meteorologist, said that “we are confident that there will be significant snowfall.”
Environment Canada has issued a winter warning for Ottawa. 25-40 cm of snow are expected Sunday night and Monday.
Liota said that the system was still on track to arrive Monday morning in an interview with CTV News Ottawa. “The snow will be heavy in the middle of the morning and into the afternoon before it starts to melt throughout the evening.”
Environment Canada estimates that Ottawa could see between 2 and 5 cm of snow per hour Monday morning/afternoon.
The record for Ottawa’s largest snowfall on Jan. 17 would be between 25 and 40 cm. The current record for snowfall in Ottawa is 11.7 cm, which was set in 1972.
After 38.6 cm in December, Ottawa received only 5 cm of snow in January.
A winter storm watch has been issued for Kingston, Brockville Leeds and Grenville Smiths Falls, Prescott, Russell, Renfrew–Pembroke, Barry’s Bay, and Renfrew–Pembroke. All areas could receive 25-40 cm of snow.
Liota states that it is too early to predict the exact snowfall or track for the storm.
“The concern we’re facing, the western edge of snow, on the rearside of the system. It’s going to a very sharp cutoff from rather significant amounts to minor quantities, even next to nothing,” stated Liota.
“Eastern Ontario is the safest area to expect significant snowfall, at least in the 15-plus centimetre range.”
The winter storm watch is in effect while an extreme cold warning remains in place for Ottawa. Overnight, Sunday will see a wind chill of minus 35
CTV News Ottawa reporter Liota said that snow will provide a temporary respite from the cold temperatures. However, the cold “will come back” on Tuesday and continue throughout the month.
“Unfortunately, the reprieve doesn’t last very long. It does look colder later this week,” said Liota.
“We do see some very strong signs that we’re likely to see at most another shot or two before the end of January.” It’s going to snow in January.
SNOWCLEARING OPERATIONS
Ottawa claims its equipment and operators are ready to deploy when snow begins to fall.
“After experiencing a few low accumulations events, it seems that we are making up lost time with the winter wallop,” the city stated on its website.
“The Roads and Parking Services Team is monitoring significant snowfall expected to reach Ottawa on Monday morning, and may have to declare it as a blizzard. Important Weather Event.”
The city will deploy plows during a winter storm to clear major roads, arterials, and major collector routes once the snow starts to fall.
The city announces that the snowclearing operations will begin after the last snowflake has fallen.
- Major roads, arterials and major collectors: Within four hours. During a storm, roads will not be left bare.
- In six hours, minor collector roads
- Residential roads and lanes: Within 10 Hours