Caffeine

Just when the sun popped out, news came of yet another storm getting set to bury us over the weekend. Environment Canda issued a severe storm warning for Friday and Saturday that will leave behind anywhere from 30 to 50 cm's of snow. Not only will it be snowing but the wind will be gusting at up to 60 km's/h causing near white out conditions.

Storm totals may be near 30 centimetres along and east of a line from Long Point to the Golden Horseshoe then to Petawawa. There is potential for 30 to 50 centimetres of snow over the Niagara Peninsula and parts of eastern Ontario.

Oh joy!

Sure it all looks pretty enough. A fresh blanket of white covering the trees, cars, buses, anything that sits still for more than 5 minutes. One of the big problems with it all is the havoc that this much snow wreaks on transportation. Getting around the city is hard enough now. Snow clearing has been an on going event for the past month and despite their efforts ...its not easy. Take a close look at the second photo. Notice all those buses sliding off the road, just try to imagine how many people were late getting home that night.
Another problem with all this snow is where to put it. With the amounts of snow that have been falling a number of streets have become congested to the point where emergency vehicles simply can't travel down them. Toss in a car parked on the road and only pedestrians are able to use the roadway.

As a result of yesterday's 29 cm snowfall and in anticipation of another significant winter storm system expected to arrive in the Ottawa area tomorrow, snow banks on downtown residential streets may restrict traffic flow. As a result, snow removal from downtown streets will begin immediately to ensure sufficient road access for emergency vehicles, public transit, garbage and recycling services, and general traffic.
To help crews clear snow easily and effectively, vehicles that remain parked on the street during this restriction will be towed, but at no expense to the owner.

Even more snow ...just what we all needed.