Near-zero visibility the concern for Ottawa with 5-10 cm of snow possible

Bitterly cold winds blowing into Ottawa will come with more snow and could cause treacherous driving conditions.

According to Environment Canada, the nation’s capital and the surrounding region is under a yellow snow squall warning due to a brief band of active weather coming across the province. The weather agency notes that later afternoon and early evening wind gusts will pick up blowing snow across roadways causing “significantly reduced visibility.”

This, the agency notes, is the “concern as opposed to snowfall accumulation.”

The southwestern winds are expected to gust up to 70 km/h. An additional 5 to 10 centimetres of snow could fall in the city from the system.

“Visibility will likely be suddenly reduced to near zero at times. Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions,” the warning reads.

It is possible that the squalls could persist into the overnight hours on Monday.

Temperatures dropped quickly last week as a huge snowstorm blanketed the nation’s capital with more than 20 cm of snow. With it came bitterly cold wind chills.

Temperatures are around -6 C in Ottawa, but it feels like -16. As the wind picks up, temperatures are forecasted to plummet overnight, feeling closer to -27.

The wind should be sticking around, making Tuesday’s -11 C feel more like -28.