Every year, it’s the same. Just as the temperatures hover around 0 °C and snow starts to melt under the afternoon sun, we get a surprise snow dump.
That day was last Friday.
On Thursday, a snow warning was issued for Friday morning and we were told to expect about 10 to 15 centimetres of the white stuff.
On Friday morning, Ottawa breathed a sigh of relief: the sky was cloudy but flurry-free. The old man up there in the sky had apparently overslept because white hell started early afternoon. One flurry, two flurries, three flurries… next thing you knew, the ground was as white as the sky and there were no fewer than 35 traffic accidents throughout the city. Rush hour turned into snowmageddon and you could spot commuters driving with five centimetres of snow on their windshields.
Friday afternoon is about the worse time for a snowfall to happen: employees leave work between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., traffic is heavy and everyone is tired. The roads couldn’t be cleared right away because of rush hour and buses were late or didn’t show up. On top of that, everyone felt depressed: knowing that you will have to shovel your driveway isn’t a great way to start the weekend and winter weather can put a serious damper on your plans.
But hey, this is Canada. We all have a short memory when it comes to weather: if it’s nicer and warmer for a few days, we almost forget it’s still winter. Getting snow in February is definitely normal.
I was lucky to be home when the snowfall started, and bundled up like a snowman, I took a long walk with my camera. I loved the colours (or lack thereof) and the fact the sky and the ground seemed to blend perfectly. It was worth getting my hair frozen!
I love big snow storms, I miss them too. I just love how everything goes quiet when it’s snowing a lot!
I know, all the sounds are muffled by the snow. It’s eerie.
Wow, that’s quite a big dump! Here, we still have a warm winter; sometimes it would snow, but it would usually melt away since a warm day would immediately follow. It’s the bizarrest winter so far, in my opinion…
I think winter was fairly mild here too. The weirdest winter I’ve seen here was 2007-08, we barely had any snow and none for Christmas and NY.
Wow, that certainly looks really cold out there… but oh does it do a beautiful set for pictures!! 🙂
It wasn’t that cold actually, only around 0C. That’s why it snowed 😉
Brrrr! It’s pretty but I don’t miss it. Give me a few months 😉
April. Or May. Or June. Definitely won’t be snow in June… at least I hope!