Ottawa Weather Guide

Ottawa residents love to talk about the weather. Along with hockey and gas prices, it may be our favourite topic. Ottawa tends to be cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. We usually have a nice spring, and a pleasant fall. Keep track of the latest forecasts with the links below.

Current conditions & forecast

Courtesy of Weather Underground

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Detailed forecasts & conditions

Environment Canada
Weather Network
Weather Warnings
Weather Underground
(also check out the full screen map)
AccuWeather.com (includes 10-day forecast)
Current Ottawa Weather (via Canadian Weather Stats
Ian Black's forecast (from CBC Ottawa)
CTV Ottawa Weather
School Bus Delays

Radar, satellite & more maps

A few radar links for tracking rain, snow and other precipitation:
Weather Network Radar
Franktown Radar (Environment Canada)
Montague, NY (National Weather Service - U.S.)
Intellicast radar map (North America)
Satellite Images (Environment Canada)

Jet Stream / North American Weather Systems (Environment Canada)
Lightning Activity (Environment Canada)

Air Quality Index from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. See also this chart showing hourly levels measured in downtown Ottawa.
Alternate links:
- Air Quality Health Index - Gatineau and Ottawa
- Weather Network Air Quality Forecast
Pollen Forecast (via The Weather Network)
Smog alerts (Ontario Ministry of the Environment)
UV Report (via The Weather Network)

Specialty Forecasts

Rideau Canal Skating Conditions
Ski 'n Ride Snowguide
This site is updated at least once a day with the latest ski conditions. There's also a swap shop, and links to "destination hills" around North America.
Ottawa Rink Conditions
Track the condition of outdoor ice rinks around Ottawa
Beach conditions
Mooney's Bay, Britannia Beach, Westboro Beac, Petrie Island — they're all great places to cool off on a warm summer day. Each day in the summer, health officials sample beach water to test for E.coli bacteria. When the bacteria count is too high, the beaches are closed. (Related: Ottawa Swimming Guide...)

Stats, info, and more

Britannia Yacht Club webcam (includes current conditions)
Canadian Weather Trivia
Environment Canada weather via e-mail
Hot Weather Resource Kit
Kanata Weather Observations
Meteorology.ca
National Climate Data and Information Archive
Nepean Sailing Club conditions
Ottawa River water levels
Sittsville Weather
Sunrise & sunset times
Weather FAQ (from Environment Canada)
More outdoors / nature / astronomy links...
ott.weather

Ottawa Weather Records

Coldest day: -36.1ºC, February 15, 1943.
Hottest day: 37.8ºC, August 14, 1944.
Highest rainfall, one day: 80mm, September 9, 1942.
Update: Unofficial record set on September 9, 2004: 135mm. (Story: CBC)
Highest snowfall, one day: 40.6cm, March 2, 1947.
Average maximum temperature: 10.7ºC
Average minimum temperature: 0.8ºC
Daily mean temperature: 5.8ºC
Average yearly rainfall: 701.8mm
Average yearly snowfall: 221.5cm
Source: National Climate Data and Information Archive, 1971-2000

1998 Ice Storm

On January 4, 1998 the first drops of freezing rain started to fall in Eastern Canada. Ten centimetres of freezing rain fell in less than a week, destroying trees, grounding airplanes, and leaving over a million people without electricity. Check out the links below for more about the event.