Snow to storms: Ontario endured three seasons in one day
Ontario saw one wild Wednesday this week
Spring is truly the season of all seasons, and it lived up to its reputation across Ontario this week as a dynamic storm swept the province.
We saw wintry weather, springtime flooding, and summer-like thunderstorms all in one short span on Wednesday. Many folks even witnessed some loud thundersnow at times.
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Winter held its ground to start
A formidable Colorado low swinging through the Great Lakes region brought a sample platter of winter, spring, and summer through the day Wednesday.
Precipitation started as heavy snowfall throughout much of southern Ontario. Toronto-Pearson officially recorded 3.8 cm of snow during the event. Some areas saw as much as 7 mm of ice accretion, as well.
Conditions were also favourable for claps of thunder to accompany the brisk snowfall rates at times, with rumbles heard throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
We also saw blizzard-like conditions in northern Ontario where cold air remained locked in place for the duration of the storm. Thunder Bay picked up 25-35 cm of snow from this system.
WATCH: Flooding along Ontario's Grand River after excessive rainfall
Spring arrived with a washout
A widespread heavy rainfall eventually blanketed all of southern Ontario, dropping 50-75 mm of rain throughout the region. Sarnia saw 75 mm of rain, while Guelph picked up 77.2 mm of rain.
This is quite a bit of rain for this time of year—so much, in fact, that we saw localized flooding from runoff and swollen waterways.
The Grand River Conservation Authority issued flood warnings for the cities of Kitchener and Cambridge, as well as West Montrose, Grand Valley, Waldemar, Drayton, the Village of Conestogo, New Hamburg, and Ayr.
A flood warning was also issued for the Ruscom River in the Municipality of Lakeshore by the Essex Region Conservation Authority.
Summer-like storms temperatures followed
On top of the thundersnow we saw earlier Wednesday, widespread thunderstorms pushed across much of southern Ontario overnight Wednesday into early Thursday morning.
Temperatures quickly rose following the system on Thursday, pushing into the 20s throughout southern Ontario. Unfortunately for warm-weather lovers throughout the province, this warmup won’t stick around very long. A big change is on the way by this weekend.