Snow makes for poor driving conditions in eastern Ontario

Snow on Friday has made for messy road conditions in Ottawa and eastern Ontario and led to some delays at Ottawa International Airport.

• Visit Ian Black's local weather page
• Highway 417 traffic cameras

As of 4 p.m., some 13 centimetres of snow had fallen at the Ottawa airport. With a change to ice pellets overnight, the likely total precipitation Friday will be 15 cm, according to CBC Ottawa Climatologist Ian Black.

Highway 417 in Ottawa and Highway 416 are partly snow covered but in fairly good driving condition, according to evening data from the Ministry of Transportation, but Highway 401 east of Prescott and417 east of Ottawa and Highway 34 in the Hawkesbury region were snow covered. Highway 417 east and Highway 34 also had "fair to poor" visibility as of 6 p.m.

There arefreezing rain warnings currently in place for an area along the St. Lawrence Seaway stretching from Cornwall to Kingston.

Environment Canada said as many as five millimetres of freezing rain could fall in the Kingston area, but it could also fall as rain because of warm winds coming from Lake Ontario.

• View map of Ontario highway road conditions (click on Road Conditions box)
• Snow, freezing rain, frigid temperatures expected on weekend

The City of Ottawa has put its overnight parking ban into place until further notice, meaning vehicles (except ones with on-street permits) can't park on city streets between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Some arrivals and departures coming out of the Ottawa International Airport have been delayed because of the weather as well.

Mobile users, click here to see the latest radar imagery.

'A tale of two storms'

What Environment Canada is calling a tale of two storms is set to continue later on Saturday, when a still-unpredictable winter storm is set to move into our area from the United States.

Environment Canadas special weather statement on that storm says significant snow and ice pellet amounts are possible for the Ottawa Valley, with an ice storm possible across much of southern Ontario.

There is still uncertainty surrounding the exact position of the storm track. Any change in the storm centre's track will affect precipitation amounts and type, Environment Canada said in their statement.

However, it is very likely that holiday travel will be significantly impacted.

Saturdays forecast for Ottawa says snow, possibly mixed with ice pellets, will end in the morning. However, there is a60 per cent chance of flurries or freezing drizzle until early Saturday evening, and a high of 6 C.

Ottawas forecast for Sunday shows a possibility for freezing rain and/or snow as well.