Environment Canada predicts eastern Ontario could be ankle-deep in snow days before Halloween this year.

A winter storm watch was in effect Tuesday from Brockville and the eastern edge of Algonquin Park to the interprovincial boundary with Quebec.

In Ottawa, Environment Canada's weather office expected snow to be heavy at times Tuesday night, blown by wind gusts of up to 70 km/h as the temperature drops to the freezing point.

A total of 10 to 15 centimetres of snow are predicted in the city, following 20 to 30 millimetres of heavy rain early in the day while the temperature hovers around 2 C.

The snow is expected to melt later in the week as the high is predicted to hit 8 C on Thursday and 15 C on Friday.

Clearer sidewalks expected downtown

Down at the City of Ottawa's equipment yard on Catherine Street, which serves the city's core, crews were gathering the area's 20 salt trucks, 25 plow trucks and 35 sidewalk machines from sites in other parts of the city where workers have been preparing them for the winter.

Keith Hardiman, area manager for service operations in the city's core, said seasonal night staff will begin work a few days ahead of their planned Nov. 1 start.

"Because of the storm we're upping everything," he said. "They'll be ready to go and wait for the snow."

Hardiman said downtown residents can expect clearer sidewalks this year, as all sidewalk machines now have blowers, compared with only half last year. The machines don't function well without blowers after heavy snowfalls.

Dan Willmott, who is in charge of road crews, sidewalk plows, spreaders and front-end loaders at the downtown site, said that as of Tuesday morning, the city was almost ready.

"I love winter," he added. "I don't go anywhere. I just stay and work. Summertime, that's my time off."