Ottawa could see up to 20 cm of snow, daytime parking ban issued for Saturday

A snowplow clears a road in Barrhaven on Friday. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

March will come in like a lion in Ottawa, with a winter storm expected to bring up to 20 centimetres of snow tonight and Saturday.

Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for Ottawa, calling for “significant snowfall” starting Friday afternoon. Snow began falling in Ottawa at 5 p.m., and is expected to continue until 3 p.m. Saturday.

“An Alberta Clipper will bring snow, heavy at times, to the area beginning this afternoon,” Environment Canada said in a statement.

“The heaviest snowfall is expected this evening into the overnight. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow.”

Daytime parking ban in Ottawa on Saturday

The City of Ottawa says “all available resources” will be deployed to clear snow off roads and sidewalks.

“Our focus will be on clearing and treating sidewalks, roads, bus routes, the Transitway and the winter cycling network,” the city said in a statement.

A daytime winter weather parking ban has been issued for Saturday between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to assist crews with snow clearing efforts. Only vehicles with on-street parking permits will be allowed to park on city streets during the parking ban.

The storm comes as the city continues to cleanup from the over 100 centimetres of snow that has fallen in February, including nearly 70 centimetres over a five-day period between Feb. 12 and 16. The city says resources dedicated to removing snowbanks will be shifted to snow-clearing operations during the storm.

“Once the transportation network is restored, crews will be able to return to snow removal operations,” staff said.

Since February 17, crews have removed 1.1 million cubic metres of snow from Ottawa’s roads and sidewalks during snow removal operations.

“That’s like filling the RedBlacks stadium at TD Place to the top of the stands four times!” the city said.

The snowfall warning is in effect for Ottawa, Cornwall, Maxville and Alexandria, Prescott and Russell, Pembroke, Petawawa, Renfrew, Arnprior and Calabogie areas.

Environment Canada’s forecast calls snow tonight. Amount 10 to 15 cm. Temperature rising to 0 C by morning.

Flurries on Saturday with the risk of freezing rain in the morning. Snowfall amount 2 cm. Temperature falling to -9 C.

The outlook for Sunday calls for sunshine. High -12 C.

Monday will be sunny with a high of -3 C.

The normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of -1 C and a low of -10 C.

Snowy February

This has been Ottawa’s snowiest month in five years.

Environment Canada says Ottawa received 105.5 cm of snow through the first 27 days on February, including 9 cm on Thursday.

Ottawa received 69 cm of snow in a five-day period between Feb. 12 and 16.

Ottawa received 101.8 cm of snow in January 2019. Ottawa received 96.5 cm of snow in January 2023 and 95.4 cm in December 2022.