Winter returns to Ontario with widespread weekend snow expected
Widespread totals of 5-10+ cm are expected through the end of the weekend
Friday’s brief break from wintry weather will snap back to reality as cooler air and widespread weekend snow spreads across southern Ontario.
Expect the snow to begin Saturday afternoon and continue into the overnight hours for some areas, with a secondary batch of lake-effect building in for Sunday.
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Brief pause ends with weekend system
Unseasonably warm air spread over southern Ontario to end the week. Friday’s highs made it up to 16.0°C in Sarnia and 15.2°C at Toronto-Pearson.
We’re leaving that midwinter comfort behind this weekend as a new system collides with colder air moving back into the region. Temperatures will plunge back below the freezing mark, heralding the return of below-seasonal temperatures and opportunities for snow.
Widespread snowfall will develop Saturday afternoon as a system pushes into the Great Lakes, spreading across all of the shorelines through the day. Expect the heaviest snowfall by the evening hours.
Wet snow is expected over the 401 and regions to the highway’s north and east. A sharp gradient will develop across the City of Toronto, with rain to the south and snow to the north.
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Snow will affect travel across Ottawa on Saturday evening and into the overnight hours.
A burst of lake-effect snow will build into portions of southern Ontario on Sunday in the main system’s wake.
All told, we’re looking at widespread snowfall totals of 5-10 cm from the Huron shores through eastern Ontario. Slightly higher totals of 10-15 cm are expected in the snowbelts and throughout cottage country. Totals will quickly reduce to a mere dusting near the shores of Lake Ontario thanks to the cutoff between rain and snow.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across Ontario.