Snow squall watch issued for Ottawa

Ottawans are used to the snow, but the timing of this latest storm made for messy commutes. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

A snow squall watch is in effect for Ottawa Thursday evening, which could lead to zero-visibility conditions.

Environment Canada expects brief bursts of heavy snow, with peak snowfall rates of up 2 to 4 centimetres in an hour late this evening and after midnight. The hourly forecast says there is a risk of snow squalls between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.

“As the heavy snow will be moving quickly across the region, snowfall accumulations are not expected to exceed 5 cm,” the weather advisory says.

“Travel may be hazardous due to sudden changes in the weather. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.”

Snow began falling just before 10 a.m., with up to 10 centimetres of snow expected through the day. As of 2 p.m., 5 cm of snow was recorded at the Ottawa Airport.

Environment Canada had issued a winter weather travel advisory for Ottawa, calling for snow to continue through the afternoon and early evening. The advisory ended at around 4:40 p.m.

“Motorists should expect hazardous winter driving conditions and adjust travel plans accordingly. Poor weather conditions may contribute to transportation delays. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow.”

The City of Ottawa says its fleet of snowplows will focus on sidewalks, priority roads, bus routes and the Transitway.

“We’ve been watching this storm come, so our resources were deployed first thing,” Bryden Denyes, roads manager for the City of Ottawa, told CTV Morning Live.

“So really trying to plow the snow off to get it off the road as fast as we can and then we’re just cycling through all of our beats right now to try and keep up on that.”

Denyes says the timing of the storm this afternoon is the “big challenge” for crews.

“It will slow our response down a little bit as traffic builds,“ Denyes said. ”So we’re going to try our best to cycle through as fast as we can before traffic starts building up. But as soon as traffic starts picking up, it will slow us down as well.”

Snow ending this evening then mainly cloudy with a few flurries beginning near midnight. Two to four centimetres of snow expected tonight Environment Canada says there is a risk of freezing drizzle this evening and a risk of snow squalls overnight. Temperature rising to -4 C this evening then falling.

Friday will see a mix of sun and cloud with a 40 per cent chance of flurries. High -5 C.

Saturday will see sunshine. High -4 C.

Environment Canada is calling for snow Saturday night, with periods of snow continuing on Sunday.

The normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of -5 C and a low of -14 C.