Environment Canada now says the National Capital Region may only see 2 to 4 cm of snow this Saturday, but we’re not fully in the clear.
“The snow will persist into Saturday with total snowfall amounts ranging from near 10 centimetres over southern areas, to less than 5 cm near the Ottawa River including the National Capital,” a Special Weather Statement says. “The snow will come to an end Saturday evening.”
Environment Canada also says Sunday’s freezing rain could last into Monday, making the morning drive back to work a slippery one.
“As the low gets closer, another area of snow and ice pellets will move into the region Sunday morning before changing to freezing rain late Sunday. The freezing rain may persist into Monday. Some locales could see significant ice accumulations.”
Ice build-up could lead to fallen branches and downed power lines.
The special weather statement is in effect for the northernmost parts of eastern Ontario, along the Ottawa River, including Ottawa, Petawawa, Pembroke, Arnprior, Renfrew, Deep River, Prescott and Russell, as well as areas in and around Cornwall.
While the snowfall totals for those areas are lower than initially forecast, southern areas are under snowfall and freezing rain warnings.
Snowfall warnings stretch across a band of eastern Ontario from Lake Huron east to the St. Lawrence, including areas like Brockville, Kemptville, Gananoque, and Western Lanark County. 15 to 20 cm of snow is expected in those areas.
From the St. Lawrence and south along the Great Lakes, freezing rain warnings are in effect, with 10 to 20 mm of freezing rain expected. These stretch from Kingston down to Sarnia. Windsor is expecting heavy rain.