First snowfall of the season arrives in Ottawa region

Slippery start to snow season First snowfall of the season causes dozens of crashes in the Ottawa area. CTV's Natalie Van Rooy reports.

The first snowfall of the season is here, with slippery road conditions and poor visibility snarling much of the traffic in the region.

As of noon on Wednesday, 7 cm of snow had fallen at the Ottawa airport, according to Environment Canada.

Ottawa police said that there were 58 collisions between midnight and 3 p.m. Wednesday, well above average.

A stretch of Highway 401 westbound at Upper Canada Road near Morrisburg, Ont. was closed for several hours due to a truck crashing into a ditch. The highway reopened just after 3:30 p.m.

Police are advising drivers to clear all the snow off their vehicle and drive according to the winter driving conditions—adjusting travel plans, leaving extra time to get where you're going and leaving extra space between vehicles.

Snow is expected to taper off early this afternoon, according to the winter weather travel advisory from Environment Canada. The advisory stretches from the Ontario-Quebec boundary to Toronto and southern Ontario.

Brockville, Cornwall and Kingston could also see 5 to 10 cm of snow, while Pembroke and the Ottawa Valley could see 2 to 4 cm of snow.

Wednesday's temperature in Ottawa is expected to stay steady near -1 C.

There's a chance of flurries over the next few days.

Thursday will see a mix of sun and cloud, with a high of -1 C.

The outlook for Friday, Saturday and Sunday is cloudy with a chance of flurries on all three days.

The normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of 4 C and a low of -3 C.