Look out Ottawa, next storm may be even bigger

Just when people in the Ottawa area thought they had seen the worst snowstorm a winter could throw at them, the weather office is predicting an even bigger one for Friday and Saturday.

"It has the potential to be one of the worst storms of the winter," said Mitch Meredith, a severe-weather meteorologist with Environment Canada.

He said the two-stage storm could bring as much as 30 to 50 centimetres of snow. Wednesday's storm dumped about 28 centimetres on the area.

The first stage of the storm will hit southwestern Ontario Friday afternoon, and move into the Ottawa area by evening. The heaviest snowfall is expected on Saturday.

The heaviest accumulation of snow will be along the Niagara peninsula and in eastern Ontario, Meredith said, listing the ingredients that could contribute to a big storm:

• It's originating in Texas, and has had a lot of time to gather up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
• It is tracking northward, and "with a lot of cold air in the north, it will draw in a lot of moisture from the East Coast."
• It is deepening to a very low pressure, which means we are going to see high winds with the storm as it tracks through.

The forecast suggests Ottawa still has a chance to break the all-time record of 444.1 centimetres of snow that fell in 1970-71. The city has already been blanketed with 357 centimetres this winter.