Since the first snowflakes fell in November, there should be close to 3 meters of snow on the ground by Saturday
No, you’re not making it up—this winter in Ottawa, it is warmer and there is more snow than usual.
In the city, the weather has been unusually warm for the past couple of months, which has messed up important events like Winterlude and skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway.
From weather data collected over nearly 30 years, February was the fifth straight month in which the average temperature in Ottawa was above average.
In January, there was the biggest difference. Between 1981 and 2010, the average January temperature in Ottawa was –10.2°C. The average temperature this year was –5.9 C.
There is also more snow than usual in the city.
Since November, when the first snowflakes fell, the international airport in Ottawa has seen about 280 centimeters of snow. It snows about 225 centimeters on average in the winter.
Since 2000, it has only snowed 300 centimeters there three times.
On Saturday, Environment Canada says there will be more snow. It could be the 12th day since winter started on December 21 that Ottawa gets at least 10 centimeters of snow. This would bring the total closer to 3 meters.