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Weather warnings call for icy afternoon, rainy night

Ice coats a crosswalk sensor in Ottawa on Jan. 5, 2023. Environment Canada issued freezing rain warnings for the city the night before and again on Thursday. (Matthew Kupfer/CBC - image credit)
Ice coats a crosswalk sensor in Ottawa on Jan. 5, 2023. Environment Canada issued freezing rain warnings for the city the night before and again on Thursday. (Matthew Kupfer/CBC - image credit)

Freezing rain is expected to create slippery conditions in the Ottawa-Gatineau region Thursday, with rain following in its wake.

According to warnings issued by Environment Canada, a few millimetres of ice will coat Ottawa and its neighbouring regions including western Quebec, as well as Cornwall and Bancroft, Ont.

Environment Canada
Environment Canada

That should change to rain south of the capital late this afternoon, and in Ottawa by this evening.

Special weather statements calling for 15 to 25 millimetres of rain overlap with some of the freezing rain warnings, but aren't expected to affect western Quebec, Renfrew County or Prescott-Russell.

In the Kingston and Belleville area, where rain started late this morning, winds could gust at around 80 km/h tonight.

Deep River, Ont., could see five to 10 centimetres of snow mixed with freezing rain.

School buses serving English and French boards are cancelled across eastern Ontario, except in northern parts of the Kingston area. School buses continue to run in western Quebec.

The temperature in Ottawa is expected to remain around 0 C all day after peaking at 5 C Wednesday. The thermometer could climb to 3 C under cloudy skies on Friday, with a 60 per cent chance of showers or flurries in the morning.

Last week's cold snap aside, this winter's warmer, snowier weather has put a damper on many popular outdoor activities. The Rideau Canal Skateway will remain closed this weekend, the second weekend of Winterlude.

Temperatures on six of the next seven days are forecast to peak at or above 0 C in Ottawa, according to Environment Canada.