It was chaos on the roads as morning commuters dealt with the heaviest snowfall the Ottawa area has had this season.
Environment Canada severe weather meteorologist Geoff Coulson said the Ottawa Airport measured eight centimetres of snow as of 2 p.m., while the area closer to the Ottawa River, including downtown Ottawa and Gatineau, received as much as 15 cm.
Ottawa police had a busy day, dealing with 87 calls for collisions from midnight to about 2:30 p.m. yesterday. Police said there were 24 collisions between 6 and 9 a.m. alone.
“It’s the first snowstorm of the year and we expected to deal with a higher number than average,” said Const. Kathy Larouche.
“Most of these collisions involved single vehicles that slid off the road. Even though most people are used to winter driving here, it always catches people off guard.”
There are generally fewer collisions with subsequent snowstorms, she said.
“We see people driving much more in accordance with weather conditions as winter progresses.”
There were no serious collisions, she added.
There’s still a chance of a few flurries today, but significant accumulation is not expected, Coulson said.
