First snowfall of the season to hit Ottawa

The Halloween eve forecast will deliver a scare to Ottawa residents, with the first snowfall of the season expected tonight and Monday morning.

Some residents reported seeing light flurries in Orleans and Ottawa's south end on Sunday morning,

Environment Canada's forecast calls for periods of rain or snow late this evening, before it changes to snow overnight.  Ottawa could see 2 cm of snow by Monday morning.

"The biggest thing we're doing is we are monitoring the weather," Bryden Denyes, Ottawa's area manager for Special Operations, tells CTV News Ottawa.

"We do have staff during the daytime and the nighttime that will be monitoring the weather. Depending on what happens if we do have snow, we're able to respond to those conditions."

Denyes says the city has been preparing for winter for a couple of months, and is ready if any snow accumulates on the roads.

"Right now we're monitoring, we're still very early in the season. We are prepared to respond if we need to," Denyes said on Sunday. "But with the conditions, with how warm the ground is, if we do receive any snow it's unlikely it will stick, it will probably melt on contact. If it does stick, we'll have staff that can respond as needed."

This will be the earliest snowfall in Ottawa since October 2020, when 0.2 cm of snow was recorded at the Ottawa Airport on Oct. 26.

Last year, Ottawa saw a trace of snow on Nov. 13 and the first significant snowfall was Nov. 16 with 7 cm of snow.

Here is a look at the forecast

Cloudy this evening. Periods of rain or snow beginning late this evening then changing to snow overnight. Low plus 1 C.

Snow ending Monday morning then cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of rain. High plus 5 C.

Halloween Tuesday will be sunny with a high of plus 4 C. Tuesday night will be cloudy with a low of minus 4 C.

The normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of 9 C and a low of minus 1 C.