Ottawa under special weather statement with 40 mm of rain possible

Ottawa is under a special weather statement for significant rainfall this weekend.

Environment Canada is forecasting 20-40 mm of rain, starting Saturday morning and continuing into Sunday.

“A low pressure system will bring widespread rain across southern Ontario this weekend. Rain will move over the area Saturday morning and progress eastward across the region,” Canada’s weather agency wrote.

There is also a risk of freezing rain in the Ottawa Valley during the onset of the event.

It’s also possible that rainfall warnings may be issued for some regions as the weather event approaches.

“At this point, there is still uncertainty regarding rainfall amounts.”

The rain is expected to change over to snow on Sunday as colder air moves over the region, with snowfall accumulation possible.

A daytime high is forecasted Sunday for 2 C, but feeling cooler than that with the wind chill in Ottawa by Sunday night.

The weather statement follows an unusually warm ending to February and start to March, as double-digit temperatures were a talking point across much of southern Ontario.

While the extended forecast doesn’t point to temperatures we’ve seen recently, a warm-up is coming next week, with daytime highs of 6 C on Tuesday and 9 C Wednesday.