'No Question' Ottawa's Weather Will Bring A White Christmas & Here's How Much Snow To Expect
A special weather statement has been issued for the area.
Snow along the Rideau Canal and Ottawa River. Right: Snow storm in an Ottawa neighbourhood.
For those living in the city of Ottawa who are dreaming of a white Christmas, you can rest happy because it looks like those dreams will come true.
On December 19, 2022, The Weather Network stated it was "comfortable enough to lock in a white Christmas for the city" following one of Ottawa’s "deepest snowfalls on record in December last week."
As magical as this sounds, this white Christmas dream could cause a travelling nightmare. On December 20, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for the Ottawa area starting December 22 through the holiday weekend.
A mix of rain and snow is expected to start late Thursday and continue in many areas into Friday as temperatures drop to -8 degrees Celcius, with the potential of flash freezing.
“I think there's no question that Ottawa will have a white Christmas because we already have enough snow on the ground,” meteorologist Peter Campbell from Environment Canada told Narcity. “The big issue really is that we're [probably] going to have a flash freeze later in the day on Friday, followed by a bit more snow.”
A mix of rain, strong winds and snow are all expected starting December 22, but the details around wind speeds and type of precipitation are currently uncertain. A multi-day snow event will be happening over the holiday weekend for Ottawa and other locations east of the Great Lakes.
Weekend temperatures will likely be the coldest yet of this season so anything on the ground on Friday should be here to stay. Approximately 2 to 4 centimetres of snow is expected on December 24 after a mix of rain and snow on the 22 and 23.
There is no precipitation in the forecast for Christmas Day and it is expected to be mainly cloudy with a mix of sun.
"Avoid travelling on Friday, to the southwest if you can, and be very careful driving around Ottawa [on] Friday late in the day when the cold front comes through… everything will freeze,” Campbell advises.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.