Snow mixed with rain slowing down clearing operations: City
The City of Ottawa says the heavy, wet snow mixed with rain is slowing down their ability to clear streets and sidewalks.
The first big winter storm of the season dumped snow, freezing rain, and rain on Ottawa.
Snow started falling in Ottawa just before 8 p.m., quickly covering roads and sidewalks. The city of Ottawa said Monday morning it had received 14 centimetres of snow overnight. The precipitation turned to freezing rain at around 3 a.m., lasting for about six hours before turning to rain as the temperature rose above the freezing mark.
Environment Canada said Ottawa received 25 mm of mixed precipitation in the last 24 hours.
Ottawa police said there had been 32 collisions on city roads through the morning, none with serious injuries.
School buses for English and French public and Catholic boards in Ottawa were cancelled Monday. Schools remained open.
OC Transpo warned of possible delays on some routes due to the weather, and urged commuters to plan their trips ahead of time. Several bus stops were out of service due to local road conditions.
The city of Ottawa has issued a daytime parking ban for Monday. Only vehicles with on-street parking permits are permitted to park on city streets between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
In a statement on its website, the City of Ottawa said the heaviness of the snow is making snow-clearing operations difficult.
"In many cases, our sidewalk plows have had to switch from pushing blades to snow blowers. When we are using snow blowers, we move at roughly half the pace of our regular machines. Even with the blades, our sidewalks plows are moving at a slower pace due to the weight of the snow," the city said.
The winter parking ban will be lifted at 7 p.m. but the city is still asking residents to keep their cars off of the street overnight, if possible, to aid in the clearing of catch basins.
"We have called in additional resources who are working exclusively to manage water pooling and drainage issues. Doing this now will help us to avoid icy build-ups overnight," the city said. "Because we are facing drainage issues in many areas, those who are able are asked to please clear their local catch basin to promote water draining from the road. This is the best way to prevent ice from forming on the roadways."
Winter storm and freezing rain warnings were also in effect for parts of eastern Ontario stretching from the Upper Ottawa Valley to Prescott-Russell.
Special weather statements
Special weather statements remain in effect along the St. Lawrence, warning of heavy rainfall in places like Kingston, Gananoque, Brockville and Cornwall. Local amounts of up to 25 mm of rain can be expected.
In the Kingston area, a wind warning also remains in effect, with gusts of up to 90 km/h in the forecast.
Paramedics respond to snow-clearing calls
Ottawa paramedics said they responded to two emergency calls involving snow-clearing activities Monday morning.
Around 7 a.m., they were called to Innes and Pagé roads where a man in his 40s suffered a heart attack after helping someone get their vehicle through heavy snow. He was rushed to the Ottawa Heart Institute.
Elewhere in the city, a man in shi late 60s collapsed as he was shovelling snow on his driveway. Bystanders performed CPR until paramedics arrived. He was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition.
Ottawa's forecast
Periods of rain should end by Monday evening. As the temperature drops, there will be a chance of flurries late in the evening. The sky should clear overnight. The low is minus 10 C with a wind chill of minus 14.
Tuesday is looking mainly cloudy, with a high of minus 5 C.
Wednesday could see clouds with a chance of flurries. High minus 5 C.
The outlook for Thursday is cloudy with a high of minus 7 C.
--With contributions from CTV News Ottawa's Leah Larocque, Michael Woods, Josh Pringle, and Ted Raymond.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Russian sentenced to life in Ukraine's 1st war crimes trial
A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced to life in prison on Monday in the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded three months ago, unleashing a brutal conflict that has led to accusations of atrocities, left thousands dead, driven millions from their homes and flattened whole swaths of cities.

WATCH LIVE | Sunrise ceremony opens daylong Kamloops, B.C., memorial to mark graves detection anniversary
A memorial to mark the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the detection of an unmarked burial site at the former residential school at Kamloops, B.C. starts early Monday with a ceremony at sunrise and concludes with a closing evening prayer.
Storm leaves at least nine dead, many powerless across Ontario and Quebec
Tens of thousands of people remain without power after Saturday's powerful storm that left at least nine dead and caused extensive damage throughout southern Ontario and Quebec.
Wreckage found of plane that disappeared in Ontario with Alberta men onboard, police say
The wreckage of a small plane that disappeared last month in northern Ontario with two men aboard has been located in Lake Superior Provincial Park.
What is a 'derecho'? Climatologist explains Saturday's powerful storm
The storm that moved across Ontario and Quebec Saturday is known as a 'derecho', a powerful kind of windstorm that is long lasting and far-reaching.
Walk out at trade meeting when Russia spoke 'not one-off,' says trade minister
The United States and four other nations that walked out of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting in Bangkok over the weekend underlined their support Monday for host nation Thailand, saying their protest was aimed solely at Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Trained dogs can identify COVID-19 by sniffing skin swabs: study
A new study that brought sniffer dogs to an airport to search for COVID-19 has found that dogs may be able to detect the virus with high accuracy just from smelling skin swabs.
Theories emerge for mysterious liver illnesses in children
Health officials remain perplexed by mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world.
A new billionaire has been minted nearly every day during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been good for the wallets of the wealthy. Some 573 people have joined the billionaire ranks since 2020, bringing the worldwide total to 2,668, according to an analysis released by Oxfam on Sunday. That means a new billionaire was minted about every 30 hours, on average, so far during the pandemic.