Flood, wind risk grows with Saturday severe storm threat
An approaching front may bring severe weather to Ontario and Quebec to kick off the weekend
The extremely muggy conditions parked over Ontario and Quebec will help fuel a round of heavy thunderstorms to kick off the weekend.
Severe weather is possible throughout the region on Saturday, including a risk for localized flooding, damaging wind gusts, and large hail.
Stay alert for rapidly changing conditions, and pay attention to any potential watches or warnings in your area.
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Saturday storm risk grows in Ontario and Quebec
A cold front pushing into the region on Saturday will provide the trigger needed to spark scattered thunderstorms.
The activity will begin Saturday morning as heavy rain tracks into the Greater Toronto Area. We’ll see this precipitation move east and evolve into thunderstorms which may turn severe between Kingston and Ottawa.
Peak afternoon heating and instability will likely fuel the strongest storms along the cold front. Discrete thunderstorms will bubble up across northeastern and eastern Ontario, as well as into western Quebec.
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We’ll see these storms organize into a line during the early afternoon. Damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and large hail are possible in the strongest storms. Isolated rotation cannot be ruled out given environmental conditions in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec.
The risk will shift into southern Ontario by Saturday evening as thunderstorms triggered by lake breezes become organized as the cold front advances into the area.
Ample atmospheric moisture will provide a rich reservoir for these storms to tap into and produce very heavy rainfall. Localized flooding is expected. Damaging wind gusts are also possible.
There’s some uncertainty in the forecast given that the cold front will also carry some upper-level smoke into the region from fires out west. The smoke may suppress the severity of any of Saturday’s storms.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across the region.