Ottawa Winter Storm December 2012

OTTAWA — Friday isn’t expected to be Ottawa’s coldest December day — but it could be one of the stormiest.

 A snowfall warning for Ottawa was updated to a winter storm warning by  Environment Canada Thursday afternoon.

 “We  haven’t seen a storm like this for a while, so some people may have forgotten  what a real storm looks like,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Peter  Kimbell.

 He  said Ottawa hasn’t experienced a similar storm in over a year.

Twenty  to 25 centimetres of snow is expected to fall between early morning and late  Friday evening, with winds of 40-60 km/h that may cause blowing snow and low to no visibility. A high of 0 and low of -3 are  expected.


“Morning’s  rush hour will be extremely treacherous,” said Kimbell, urging people to avoid  driving if possible. “It will be very messy with about 10-15 cm already fallen  by the time people wake up.”


The  heaviest snow will fall overnight, but snow will continue through the day and  may be mixed with rain late Friday afternoon as temperatures creep above zero, said Kimbell,

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