PHOTOS: Parts of Ontario walloped by season's first lake-effect snow
Dangerous road conditions and collisions were reported in parts of southern Ontario Monday and Tuesday as the region's first significant, lake-effect snowfall event pushed through with some hefty accumulations
Finally, the lake-effect machine came roaring to life in southern Ontario this week.
Tuesday marked the second day of snow squall action in the Great Lakes region, with bands coming off of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay once the cold, Arctic air mass settled in over the warmer waters.
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The heaviest bands formed over Lake Huron on Tuesday, impacting Kincardine, Goderich, Stratford, Kitchener and Waterloo, and surrounding areas. Another intense squall positioned itself off Georgian Bay, heading over Wasaga Beach, Highway 26, Barrie and south along the 400.
Snow in Owen Sound, Ont. (April Walker/The Weather Network)
Some of the snow, while much lighter in nature, filtered its way into parts of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The bands weren't that expansive, with the heaviest accumulations highly localized, but some of them overachieved with excessive amounts.
As of Wednesday evening, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released a summary with snowfall totals recorded by volunteers (accumulations exceeding 10 cm). Some of the highest accumulations included Bracebridge with 42 cm, Clifford with 35 cm, Brussels with 34 cm, Bracebridge with 30 cm, Berkley with 28 cm and Innisfil with 26 cm.
However, travel impacts were more widespread. The primary danger was with reduced visibility under heavy snowfall, paired with wind gusts close to 60 km/h. There were accidents reported on Highway 403, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from the Ontario Provincial Police.
Intense snowfall rates of up to 5 cm of snow per hour at times were forecast in some of the heaviest streamers off Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. It certainly made travel dangerous over some locations, especially on the 400-series highways.
Some of these areas were forecast to see another 10-20 cm of snow before the event ends, with some very localized areas potentially seeing more.
Once the snow started flying, so did the visuals on social media. Below is just a selection of what is currently making the rounds.
Thumbnail courtesy of WellingtonWX/X.