Winter storm watch in effect for Ottawa with up to 30 cm expected this weekend

Snow covers the ice sculptures on Sparks Street ahead of the final weekend of Winterlude. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)

As Ottawa continues to dig out from the biggest winter storm in more than three years, another storm is set to hit the national capital over the Family Day long weekend.

Environment Canada has issued a winter storm watch for Ottawa, calling for 20 to 30 cm of snow on Sunday.

“Another significant winter storm is forecast to bring heavy snowfall and blowing snow to the area Sunday,” the weather agency said in a statement, calling for peak snowfall rates of 3 to 6 cm of snow.

“There remains some uncertainty as to which areas will receive the heaviest snowfall amounts.”

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Environment Canada is calling for 2 cm of snow on Saturday and 2 cm Saturday night before heavy snow arrives on Sunday.

The storm is approaching as Ottawa continues to cleanup from the 32 centimetres of snow that buried the capital Wednesday night and Thursday.

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Staff spent Friday cleaning up roads and sidewalks following Thursday’s storm, and preparing for the next storm.

“Today, crews will focus on cleaning up the entire transportation network from yesterday’s snowfall,” Jake Gravelle, area manager – Urban Roads and Parking Services with Public Works, said in a memo to council.

“They will also take care of any problem areas, such as bus stops, crosswalks, intersections, pedestrian islands, corners and cul de sacs. There’s a lot to accomplish, and it is going to take some, but crews will keep going until the transportation network has been restored.”

The city’s roads manager says the snow-clearing operations will be focusing on making room for the next snowfall.

“We’re going to be working on corners, crosswalks, bus stops – just trying to get everything opened up before the storm,” Bryden Denyes, City of Ottawa roads manager, told CTV Morning Live. “On our priority roadways, we will be working on cleaning up, pushing some snow back trying to make some space for the upcoming snow event on the weekend.”

Denyes says the city will be looking at removing snow from some isolated “problem areas” to create more space ahead of the next storm.

A daytime winter weather parking ban was in effect between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday to give crews space to clear roads and sidewalks. Denyes says the parking ban will help crews prepare for the upcoming storm this weekend.

“It is challenging. We haven’t had back-to-back events like this for quite a few years,” Denyes said.

“So, we have to have some careful planning that we’re putting into this to be able to manage it and then we have to be able to switch very rapidly after this storm hits on the weekend into our active snow removal operations because we will have some very narrow streets.”

Ottawa could see 2 cm of snow Saturday.

The 32 cm of snow Wednesday and Thursday was the biggest storm to hit Ottawa since nearly 48 cm of snow fell on Jan. 17, 2022.

Forecast

Environment Canada’s forecast calls for a partly cloudy night on Friday. Low -18 C.

Mainly cloudy on Saturday with periods of snow beginning in the afternoon. High -10 C.

Snow continuing on Sunday. High -8 C.

The outlook for Monday calls for a mix of sun and cloud with a 60 per cent chance of showers. High -11 C.

The normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of -4 C and a low of -13 C.