Ottawans awoke to more than 15 cm of snow on Christmas Eve, with reports of collisions on slippery roadways following a holiday snowstorm that came to town just hours before Santa.
Environment Canada said about 17 cm of snow fell at the Ottawa airport between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, and the weather agency lifted its snowfall warning around 5 a.m. on Dec. 24.
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Ontario Provincial Police said on Tuesday morning officers were responding to numerous collisions on Highway 416 and Highway 417.
Eloise Revie, squeals with delight as her dad, Patrick Revie, and her blast down the toboggan hill at Lansdowne Park on Dec. 24, 2024.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
Shortly after 9 a.m., the OPP, Ottawa firefighters and paramedics were at the scene of one such collision at Highway 417 and Eagleson Drive, where an SUV was wedged under the highway’s overpass in the crash.
“Thankfully, nobody was injured in this collision,” OPP said on social media. “Please slow down while driving through the area as emergency crews and tows work to get the vehicle down.”
Though large swaths of southern and eastern Ontario saw snowstorms ahead of the holidays, the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces said Tuesday morning that NORAD is ready to track Santa’s flight into Canada and around the world.
Visiting from Florida, Blaine Ruttan and his son, Elijah Ruttan, 3, took advantage of fresh snow at Lansdowne Park’s toboggan hill on Dec. 24, 2024. In fact, it was Elijah’s first time seeing snow, said his dad, and he loved it.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
“On December 24, NORAD has one additional mission: tracking the safe flight and passage of one very special aviator, Santa Claus, as he makes his trip around the globe, delivering presents to children,” a media release said.
The release said the NORAD Tracks Santa website features Santa’s North Pole Village, a holiday countdown, games, movie theatre, holiday music, web store and more.
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After a heavy snowfall, people were digging out on Dec. 24, 2024 in the Glebe. Here, Daniel Way breaks out the big shovel on his driveway on Fourth Avenue.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
Visiting from Florida, Blaine Ruttan and his son, Elijah Ruttan, 3, took advantage of fresh snow at Lansdowne Park’s toboggan hill on Dec. 24, 2024. In fact, it was Elijah’s first time seeing snow, said his dad, and he loved it.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia James Fox and Kate Hefford work together on their O’Connor Street driveway in the Glebe, shovelling to get their car out on Dec. 24, 2024.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia Visiting from Florida, Blaine Ruttan and his son, Elijah Ruttan, 3 (pictured), took advantage of fresh snow at Lansdowne Park’s toboggan hill on Dec. 24, 2024. In fact, it was Elijah’s first time seeing snow, said his dad, and he loved it.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia Geoff Turnbull makes quick work of this Adelaide Street driveway with the help of his monster electric snowblower on Dec. 24, 2024.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia People were out enjoying the snowy weather in Ottawa Christmas Eve day, hitting the slopes on toboggans.Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
