So, I get back from two weeks in the sun last Friday thinking “great! winter’s done!”.

Bzzt. Wrong.

Apparently, Mother Nature has seen fit to lob one more (highly unnecessary) winter storm in our direction.

TAF CYOW 111438Z 1115/1212 01012G22KT P6SM SCT140 OVC210
 FM111900 04012G22KT P6SM FEW040 OVC140
 FM120300 07012KT P6SM OVC100
 FM120500 08012G22KT 5SM -SN OVC060
 FM120700 08015G25KT 3/4SM -SN VV008
   PROB40 1210/1212 2SM -PL BR OVC012
 RMK NXT FCST BY 111800Z

Judging by the aviation forecast, the white crap snow is going to start falling around 1am, with a 40% chance of ice pellets in time for the morning commute. Lovely.

Environment Canada has issued a winter storm warning for Ottawa:

Ottawa North – Kanata – Orléans
11:01 AM EDT Thursday 11 April 2013
Winter storm warning for
Ottawa North – Kanata – Orléans continued

A wintery combination of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain on the way.

Colder air has moved into the region and is coinciding with an approaching low currently over Illinois. A few centimetres of ice pellets and snow are expected for regions from Lake Huron towards Lake Ontario by early afternoon. It will become patchy this afternoon.

The main precipitation is expected tonight. It is expected to be predominantly ice pellets and freezing rain and may fall heavy at times. It should taper off by Friday morning with temperatures rising above freezing.

Although roads may tend to be slippery, of greater concern is the risk of widespread power outages due to downed tree limbs and power lines from significant ice accumulation combined with northeast winds gusting to 60 km/h. There is a risk that this could be a major ice storm.

For regions east of Georgian Bay towards Eastern Ontario including the nation Capital region, snow mixed with ice pellets is expected to begin tonight and continue through much of Friday. The majority of the precipitation should be ice pellets with some snow, with up to 10 to 15 centimetres expected. Freezing rain is also a threat for these regions, although it is not expected to be as widespread as regions farther to the south.

Ick.