Whether you can leave the car on the street tonight — January and February are banned outright, December and March only when the weather calls for it.
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Kingston's winter has two different parking rules, and the difference matters more than the weather does.
In January and February there is no overnight on-street parking at all — every night, snow or no snow. In December and March the City only bans it when the weather calls for it, and announces that by about 4 p.m. the same afternoon. This page tells you which rule you are under tonight, and — in the weather-based months — whether the snow in the forecast is anywhere near the level the City acts on.
Could there be a ban?
No parking ban can be called now — bans run 1 Dec – 31 Mar.
Outside the season the City doesn’t declare winter parking bans. Any snow below is shown for information only. Model as of 30 July at 1:52.
Modelled snowfall totals per day. A ban is the City’s call, not this number.
| Day | Snow (model) | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 30 July | 0 cm | Out of season |
| Friday 31 July | 0 cm | Out of season |
| Saturday 1 August | 0 cm | Out of season |
City-wide, you cannot park on the street from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. Around Kingston General Hospital the ban starts an hour earlier, at midnight: George Street (Stuart Street to King Street West), O'Kill Street (Barrie Street to George Street) and Stuart Street (Barrie Street to University Avenue). No announcement is made, because none is needed — the ban is on every night of both months.
A weather model, not the City’s decision
When a ban can be called, and how you find out:
1 a.m. to 7 a.m. city-wide. Around Kingston General Hospital it runs from midnight to 7 a.m. on George Street (Stuart to King West), O'Kill Street (Barrie to George) and Stuart Street (Barrie to University).
The City tries to announce a weather-based ban by 4 p.m. for the night ahead. When one is called, the restrictions are exactly the same as in January and February.
The City names more than five centimetres of snow, freezing rain, and any other situation requiring winter maintenance operations. It is a decision about clearing the roads, not a snowfall total — freezing rain can bring a ban with almost no snow in it.
Ploughing is safer and faster without parked cars in the way. That is the whole reason for the rule, and it is why the ban is overnight rather than during the day.
The City posts it at the top of its Winter Parking page, on its social media accounts, and by email to anyone subscribed to Parking Notices. Subscribing is the only one of the three that comes to you.
A car left on the street during a ban can be ticketed and towed. The City does not publish a single figure for what that costs, so this page does not quote one — but a tow means finding out where your car went before you can get to it in the morning.
Snowfall totals are modelled estimates for the area, not measurements, and not the City’s forecast. Weather data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0). Whether a ban is declared is always the City’s decision — check the official channels above.