Short Winter Possible For Ottawa, Environment Canada Predicts

Most of January will be colder than normal, but spring may arrive earlier, according to Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips.

He predicts this month's chill won't set in right away, with the first week of January bringing see-sawing conditions.

But after that, it will be colder, and more snow that will actually stick around.

While Ottawa got plenty of snow in November, most of it melted away.

The dead of winter, the coldest days of the year, will probably be Jan. 22 and 23 — and then temperatures will slowly start to climb up, Phillips said.

There's potentially some good news for this year's Winterlude festival, which runs from Feb. 1-18.

" polar vortex, Siberian express kind of weather and that may be just great for growing ice for the Winterlude," Phillips said.