If you don’t have your snow tires — or your snow pants, for that matter — out for the season, you might want to think about it, because winter’s here to stay.
As of late yesterday afternoon, the Ottawa area — which had a winter storm warning in effect — had received 12 centimetres of snow, but by this morning, accumulation might be closer to 20 centimetres, said Peter Kimbell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
And with cloudy skies and flurries in the forecast, Ottawa is looking at an additional four centimetres today, Kimbell added.
The “significant snowstorm” — which affected the midwest United States through eastern Ontario and northern Ontario, Kimbell said — put city buses behind schedule and kept police busy with more than 30 collisions yesterday.
Over at the Ottawa International Airport, Krista Kealey, vice-president of communications for the Ottawa Airport Authority, said the storm led to the cancellation of more than 40 flights in the capital.
“It’s safe to say the weather is definitely having an impact,” said Kealey.
Ottawa is looking at a high of zero today and highs of -4 and -5 over the next few days — “just not warm enough to melt the snow,” Kimbell said. “The snow will stay at least for this weekend.”
And there’s more to come. The average for December is 57 centimetres of snow, Kimbell said. “We’ve still a ways to go before catching up to a normal November and December.” WITH FILES FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS
