Great ice-making weather on the way for Ottawa as winter returns to form

January 3, 2025 Canuck

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.

Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips told CTV News Ottawa the next two weeks will be consistently cold.

“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.”

Last winter, there were only three days where the daytime high was colder than -10 C.

“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.”

A lack of snow will also help build strong ice.

“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 C. Ottawa typically sees highs of -6 C and lows of -15 C this time of year.

February is also expected to be colder than normal, Phillips said.

“I don’t think record cold but clearly colder than you’d normally see.”

The National Capital Commission had teams flooding ice on the Rideau Canal Skateway on Dec. 21, when the low temperature was -17.4 C. Double-digit lows remained in the forecast for five more days before a brief warm-up to end 2024.

That thaw is now over, said Phillips.

“You had above normal on January 1st. It got up to two degrees. There’s your January thaw,” he said. “Now, you don’t have to have another thaw for the rest of January.”

It might not be great weather for people who don’t like the cold, but Phillips said they’ve had their fun.

“They’ve had so many mild days in the last couple of years,” he said. “Now, it’s for people who love winter, and I know there’s a lot of people in Ottawa who do.”

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