Significant weather event declared
Environment Canada has identified hazardous weather for Thursday, December 22. As a result, the City of Ottawa has declared a Significant Weather Event. The Roads and Parking Services team will be out maintaining the City’s sidewalks, roads and the winter cycling network, but it will take longer than usual to restore them to regular conditions.
Forecast and conditions
Forecast shows that snow showers are expected to begin Thursday afternoon before precipitations intensify throughout the evening and into Friday morning. Around midnight, wind gusts reaching 40 to 60 kilometres per hour are also possible, creating blowing snow and causing low visibility. Peak accumulation levels could reach 3 to 4 centimetres per hour and during this period, localized areas could see as much as 10 to 20 centimetres of snow.
Shortly before sunrise Friday, the temperature will begin to rise and snow is expected to transition to rain, with ice pellets and freezing rain possible during this transition. As warmer temperature is expected to continue through the morning, Friday’s total rainfall levels could be anywhere from 10 to 15 millimetres.
Starting Friday afternoon, the temperature is expected to begin dropping rapidly before reaching -9 degrees Celsius through the overnight period. This sudden drop in temperature will likely bring flash freezing conditions to Ottawa and kickstart the precipitation’s transition back to snow, bringing another 5 to 10 centimetres that would accumulate on top of conditions that have just recently frozen over. Strong and damaging winds are also expected, with wind gusts between 70 to 90 kilometres per hour.
Please visit getprepared.gc.ca to make sure you are ready in case of an emergency.
City response
This major winter storm will be challenging for City operations - keep in mind that because of its different stages, operations will take longer than usual to complete. However, in anticipation of this event teams has been proactively opening catch basins and addressing problem spots that remained from the last event.
At the start of accumulation, teams will focus on treating and clearing priority sidewalks, roads, and the winter cycling network. By declaring a Significant Weather Event, we know that we will not be meeting our winter maintenance timeline objectives, and snow clearing and treating operations will take longer than usual. Accumulation on our network will be heavy and our sidewalks, roads and the winter cycling network will be covered with snow or ice – most likely, a combination of. We anticipate that multiple passes will be required in order to clear and treat these conditions.
Parking
Parking ban
A will be in effect 10 am on Friday, December 23 to 7 am on Saturday, December 24.
During a winter weather parking ban, parking is prohibited on city streets so crews can plow easily and effectively. Vehicles parked on the street during a ban may be ticketed and towed. Though on-street monthly parking permit holders are exempt from this restriction when they are parked in residential parking permit zones, we encourage those who can, to find off-street parking options to avoid getting snowed-in.
Everyone who can – even those with eligible parking permits – is encouraged to try and find alternate parking during this time to allow for optimal snow clearance.
Information on parking options during a winter weather parking ban is available on Ottawa.ca/winter. You can also stay in the know about our winter weather parking bans by signing up for e-alerts at Ottawa.ca, or by downloading the City of Ottawa app.
Additional Parking Options
To help accommodate vehicle owners who do not have access to off-street parking during the winter parking ban, a number of city-run facilities are providing temporary off-street parking options at City of Ottawa Recreation Facilities with parking lots and Ottawa Public Libraries. Residents will also have access to select OC Transpo park and rides as well as certain recreation centres. Some City parking garages are available for parking during winter parking bans, however it is important that residents take note of what time they need to remove their car.
Anyone using these parking lots are encouraged to assess conditions on entry, to park in clear areas and to exercise cautions when walking.
Please only park in parking lots that are clearly identified as serving City recreation facilities and Ottawa Public Libraries.
Vehicles should be retrieved by 7 am Saturday, December 24.
For a complete list of parking lot locations, please visit biblioottawalibrary.ca or Ottawa.ca. Visit ottawa.ca/winterparking for more information about which City facilities are available during winter weather parking bans.
Resident support is needed
Please try to complete any required errands today while the conditions remain favourable. Once the major winter storm begins, conditions may quickly change and traveling should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
Anyone who is able to, please clear your local catch basin to allow as much water as possible to drain from the road. This will help prevent water pooling and ice build up.
Never pass our working vehicles and always stay 3 car lengths behind to give us extra space to work! Sidewalk machines will also be out in full force, so please make sure that your car is not parked in a way that encroaches onto the sidewalk.
Exercise caution when using City sidewalks, roads, and the winter cycling network.
Be in the know about snow
Subscribe to our electronic email alerts. If you subscribe to e-Alerts, you will receive notification each time a winter weather parking ban is put in place, extended or lifted. There is no charge for this service, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Residents can also download the City of Ottawa app on their Android or Apple device to receive up-to-date information on winter parking bans and other City news.
For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca, call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401) or 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with us through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.