Environment Canada has issued a snow squall watch for Ottawa-Gatineau.

A band of "brief but intense snow" is expected to hit the region late Wednesday afternoon, and travel southwards this evening, the agency said.

Shortly after 3 p.m., reports were already coming in that intense snowfall had arrived in the capital.

EXCITEMENT! In case you haven't looked outside in the past few minutes... it's snowing again. Really snowing. Bank St is stopped <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/otttraffic?src=hash">#otttraffic</a> <a href="https://t.co/4O5OdkOrgq">pic.twitter.com/4O5OdkOrgq</a> —@cbcotttraffic

Environment Canada is warning that travel tonight may be "hazardous" due to sudden weather changes, with visibility reduced to "near zero."

Wednesday night's forecast calls for between two to four centimetres of snow, with winds gusting up to 70 kilometres an hour and a low of –9 C.