March roared in like a lion in Ottawa, with another blast of snowy weather followed by some of the coldest temperatures of the winter over the next two days.
The forecast calls for a low of -23 C Saturday night, with the wind chill making it feel like -33. Ottawa will see a high of -12 C Sunday, with the low -23 C and the wind chill making it feel like -29.
Environment Canada lifted both the snowfall warning and the winter weather travel advisory for Ottawa, with seven centimetres of snow recorded Friday night and Saturday. The weather agency had initially called for 15 to 20 cm of snow for Ottawa Friday night and Saturday.
The coldest temperature of the winter is -23.8 C, recorded on Feb. 2.
The cold temperatures will allow the National Capital Commission to reopen the Rideau Canal Skateway on Sunday.
The NCC announced the world’s largest skateway will open at 8 a.m.
Daytime parking ban lifted
The City of Ottawa’s daytime on-street parking ban ended at 7 p.m. The parking ban was issued to assist crews with snow clearing efforts.
The latest blast of winter weather 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 said “all available resources” would be deployed to clear the snow, and teams dedicated to removing the snowbanks would be shifted to snow-clearing operations.
“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.
Environment Canada’s forecast calls for clearing overnight. Low -23 C.
Sunshine on Sunday. High -12 C.
Monday will see a mix of sun and cloud. High -3 C.
The outlook for Tuesday calls for cloudy with a 30 per cent chance of flurries or showers. High 1 C.
Snowy February
February was Ottawa’s snowiest month in five years.
Environment Canada says Ottawa received 109.3 cm of snow in February, including 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.
