'Impactful' winter storm headed for Southwestern Ontario, making for a messy commute
CBC
Environment Canada says Southwestern Ontario is in for a messy mix of wintry weather, beginning Wednesday evening and continuing into Friday morning.
About 10 to 25 mm of rain going is expected to fall on Wednesday night into Thursday afternoon, with the possibility of transitioning into freezing rain mixed with ice pellets.
The rain or freezing rain turns into potentially heavy snow on Thursday night. Snowfall amounts of 10 to 15 cm are possible overnight.
"This particular storm is kind of a merger of a system that's further north," said Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder.
"The cold front from that system is merging with a low pressure system from the southern United States, and it's giving that abundance of moisture and warmth to southern Ontario."
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for London, Windsor, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia.
With the storm starting as rain and warm temperatures, Flisfeder said drivers will see cooling on the roads from both rain and snowmelt. Then there will be a freezing period, leading to slippery conditions.
The storm's final transition to snow will create visibility issues on Wednesday evening commutes through to Friday morning.
"We're expecting fairly decent amounts of rain, so any water pooling due to sewer drains being covered, it's going to exacerbate the issue on the roads," said Flisfeder.
"So we're looking at some possible roadway closures due to impassable roads and then the slippery road conditions behind that with the freezing rain and snow. We're looking at some very difficult commutes and possible road closures over the next few days."
Storm chaser Adam Skinner, whose passion led him to create online groups Instant Weather Ontario and Ontario Storm Watch, said he has his eyes on the incoming system.
"It's a really impactful storm," said Skinner.
He said storm watchers are already observing winds of somewhere between 60 to 90 kilometres in some parts of Southwestern Ontario, and are working to determine exactly how much snow ends up accumulating.
He said it all depends on the transition from rain to ice pellets.
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