It's a wintry start to the week in Sarnia-Lambton.
Environment Canada issued a snow squall warning for the region late Monday morning, with possible snowfall amounts of up to 30 centimetres by Tuesday morning.
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Geoff Coulson said lake effect snow off Lake Huron will affect Lambton County, especially east of Sarnia.
"Already radar is showing that the activity in eastern Lambton County is more significant than elsewhere," said Coulson. "And then even when winds begin to shift from the northwest late Monday afternoon and evening, activity will likely stay fairly pronounced in eastern Lambton County before finally tapering off during the early morning hours Tuesday."
Coulson said after a relatively warm fall up until this point, temperatures in Lake Huron are running a little bit warmer than normal.
"And so, this first outbreak of Arctic air creating quite the contrast between the relatively warmer waters of the lake and the cooler air flowing over it, and that's led to the development of this lake effect activity," he said. "Certainly, as we get further into November, mid to late November, this activity is fairly common, but it still does tend to happen in the early weeks of November, if we get the right setup."
The snow is not expected to stick around for very long.
"So the coldest days of the week, Monday and Tuesday, are well below normal right across the region," said Coulson. "But then as we get into mid-week Wednesday and Thursday, we see temperatures bouncing back to closer to seasonal values, and we're in fact expecting temperatures to bump up even higher than that as we get into the weekend with highs of perhaps 10 degrees Celsius."
In the meantime, drivers are reminded that travel may be hazardous in blowing snow. Visibility may suddenly be reduced to near zero at times.
"In addition to the poor visibility, obviously winter driving conditions fully in effect for Highway 402 and local roadways, plenty of snow in some areas is possible and also icy conditions as well," said Coulson.
To check on road conditions before heading out visit www.511on.ca.
