After two years of subpar ice conditions on the Rideau Canal Skateway due to warmer-than-average temperatures, Ottawa is set to experience a traditional winter with frigid temperatures for the next two weeks. This cold spell will be ideal for creating high-quality ice on the iconic skateway.
Skaters braved the cold to lace up their blades on the opening day of the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa on Friday, January 14, 2022. After two winters with above-average temperatures and poor-quality ice on skating surfaces around the capital, the city can expect a more traditional Ottawa winter.
'From this moment on, for the next two weeks, we see some pretty cold, arctic air – Siberian air, Alaskan air, call it what you may – but it really is coming in and filling all the nooks and crannies in the Ottawa Valley,' he said. 'Really, two weeks that you will not see any melting temperatures at all. In fact, this week, I see five days where the temperature in the afternoon will be below -10.' Already, this week is going to outdo the cold you had last winter,' Phillips said. The Rideau Canal Skateway has been the focal point of meteorological concerns the past two winters, with just 10 skating days in the 2023-24 skating season and none the year before because of warmer-than-average weather. Phillps said the next two weeks will be perfect for making quality ice. 'It's been almost two years since you've had temperatures this cold,' he said. 'While growing ice in January, you can enjoy it in February at Winterlude and all the great activities that you find the Ottawa area.' When you get snow on top of that ice, it kind of insulates that ice from the cold temperature above it. If you've got the cold air, but now snow, it's going to freeze that ice even faster,' he said. 'Although, it does create problems for gardens and sensitive, tender plants.' Phillips didn't describe the current cold spell as a 'polar vortex', so much as a typical Ottawa winter. 'Ottawa is the third-coldest national capital in the world, so this is something that you're used to,' he said. The forecast for Ottawa calls for highs of between -8 C and -11 C over the next week, with lows between -14 C and -18
WEATHER OTTAWA RIDEAU CANAL SKATEWAY WINTER COLD SNAP
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