(Photo by Adelle Loiselle)(Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
Chatham

Old man winter arrives with a wallop in parts of Ontario

You can say goodbye to November's unseasonably warm temperatures, at least for the next couple of weeks.

Winter weather is expected to pack a wallop in parts of Ontario over the next couple of days in some parts of the province, including Bruce and Huron Counties. However, areas like Windsor, Sarnia, and Chatham-Kent will get the cold without substantial snow.

Around Wingham, the flurries started Thursday night, and Environment Canada Meteorologist Peter Kimbell said by Monday morning, it's possible that upwards of 80 cm of snow will have fallen in some parts of midwestern Ontario.

Anyone travelling near that area over the next 48 to 72 hours could be in for a nasty surprise on the roads.

"The ground might still be a little bit warm, so when the snow hits it'll initially melt and then turn to ice. The roads could get very slippery, very quickly," said Kimbell.

Kimbell said the reason why some areas will see such a high amount of white stuff can be traced to what's happening over the Great Lakes.

"We have cold air flooding in across the Great Lakes, and the Great Lakes are actually quite warm still. Eight to ten degrees, so warm water, cold air, unstable conditions, winds coming across, picking up all that moisture and dumping it to the east. Areas to the east are going to get pounded," Kimbell said.

Kimbell is reluctant to forecast conditions beyond two weeks because the models are less accurate, but he said it's very likely Wingham, Georgian Bay and other parts of Midwestern Ontario will have a white Christmas. He's less sure about Sarnia, Windsor, and Chatham-Kent.

Winter doesn't technically arrive until December 21.

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