Ottawa Snow Day Predictor
Check tomorrow's estimated chance of a snow day in Ottawa, ON, including the weather signal behind bus cancellations, school closures and delays, then confirm with the official Ottawa Student Transportation notice.
Will school close tomorrow?
Enter a city, ZIP code, or postal code. We use live weather data to estimate closure, delay, and normal-schedule chances.
Why this estimate?
Tomorrow morning
5-day snow day outlook
Same model, one forecast request. Later days are planning signals and become less certain farther from today.
Ottawa snow day forecast for Thursday, November 5
The forecast for Ottawa shows little winter-weather disruption signal for Thursday, November 5.
- Snow forecast for the day: 0.0 cm, including 0.0 cm in the 4–9 AM travel window.
- Morning low 13°C, feeling like 13°C, with gusts up to 43 km/h.
- Wind gusts: 43 km/h
5-day Ottawa outlook
| Day | Snow | Low / high | Closure | Delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Nov 5 | 0.0 cm | 10° / 18°C | 0% | 0% |
| Fri Nov 6 | 0.0 cm | 10° / 12°C | 0% | 0% |
| Sat Nov 7 | 0.0 cm | 7° / 10°C | 0% | 0% |
| Sun Nov 8 | 0.0 cm | 3° / 10°C | 0% | 0% |
| Mon Nov 9 | 0.0 cm | 3° / 8°C | 0% | 0% |
Snapshot saved 2:47 PM EST from the same weather model as the live calculator above, which always shows the newest run. Later days are less certain. This is not an official school or transportation announcement.
Ottawa bus cancellations and school closures
Ottawa school buses are run by Ottawa Student Transportation, which can cancel transportation for the day because of unsafe weather or road conditions while schools remain open.
Who makes the call in Ottawa
- School board: Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB)
- School board: Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB)
- School buses: Ottawa Student Transportation
How Ottawa weather decisions work
- Ottawa Student Transportation reviews conditions early in the morning and communicates transportation cancellations around 6:00 AM.
- A transportation cancellation does not by itself close Ottawa schools; school closures are announced separately by each board.
Local weather to watch
Freezing rain is a recurring Ottawa winter hazard. Ice can make roads and sidewalks unsafe even with little snow, so watch the freezing-precipitation factor in the estimate.
Local guidance reviewed September 11, 2026. Official school-board and transportation notices always take priority over this estimate.
Ottawa snow day questions
Are Ottawa schools closed when buses are cancelled?
Not automatically. Ottawa Student Transportation can cancel buses while schools remain open. Check OCDSB or OCSB for a school closure.
Chance of a snow day in Ottawa
The estimate above is driven by the forecast for Ottawa, not by generic city text. Snow during the early-morning travel window counts more than snow that ends earlier, and the model also checks freezing precipitation, refreeze risk, severe cold, wind gusts and visibility.
Bus cancellation or school closure? In many Canadian boards the first thing bad weather changes is transportation: buses are cancelled for the day while schools stay open for students who can get there safely. The "weather disruption signal" combines the closure and delay chances as a rough guide to how likely the morning is to be disrupted. It is not a separate, calibrated bus-cancellation model.
How this Ottawa estimate works
The baseline model uses live Open-Meteo forecast data. It does not claim to know a board's historical closure behaviour, and ChanceOfSnowDay does not publish an accuracy percentage until verified outcomes have been collected and reviewed.