Ontario: One more day of warmth before messy weather returns
The weekend's welcome warmth will have a bit of an encore on Monday, but cooling temperatures thereafter will be accompanied by what's shaping up to be a messy system.
Warm weather lasts one more day, but by Monday evening, the first effects of a winter-like system will start making themselves felt, bringing rain, a rain/snow mix, and a shot of at-times heavy snow for much of southern Ontario all the way through to Thursday, though exact amounts are still being worked out. What we know so far, below.
SPRING FORECAST: The Weather Network will release its seasonal outlook on Wednesday, February 26. Be sure to check back to see what Spring 2020 has in store!
WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS
Temperatures at or near double digits once again Monday
Conditions will change early in the workweek, with more wintry pattern for final days of February
Potential for a significant system with snow or mixed precipitation by the middle to end of next week
Keep track of active weather alerts in your area
MONDAY: WARMTH LINGERS ONE MORE DAY
Ontario was definitely flirting with spring this past weekend, with Sunday the warmest day. Some cities came tantalizingly close to the double-digit mark, with Collingwood getting as high as 9.9°C.
For people not quite ready to face a return to more February-like temperatures, Sunday's warmth will put on a repeat performance on Monday.
Soak it up while you can. Cooler temperatures do, indeed, return this week, and by Monday evening, a low-pressure system in the U.S. will begin spreading the first tendrils of precipitation in the extreme southwest.
By the overnight, the precipitation reaches the GTA, with a chance of wet snow as well, though with little to no accumulations.
TUESDAY INTO THURSDAY: RAIN, AND SOME SNOW POTENTIAL, SPREADS
Much of the southwest, including the Greater Toronto Area, will wake to a rainy day, as temperatures will still peak a bit above zero. However, commuters should be prepared for a rain/snow mix.
By Tuesday night, however, a return to accumulating snow is possible for the GTA, as well as elsewhere in the south, potentially lasting into early Wednesday.
By Wednesday afternoon, the system will once again be marked largely by light rain, even in eastern Ontario, but falling temperatures into the evening will help fuel a changeover to at-times heavy wraparound snow, reaching back into the southwest and GTA once again into Thursday as the low departs the province.
WATCH BELOW: PRELIMINARY LOOK INTO HOW THIS SYSTEM COULD PLAY OUT
The details as to actual accumulations are still somewhat uncertain, as is the exact final track of the storm, but many areas, including much of the GTA, look likely to pick up measurable accumulations.
"A colder pattern persists into next weekend as we wrap up the month of February, but milder weather is expected as we head into the first week of March," Weather Network meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham says.
Check back as we continue to monitor the forecast and the incoming system's impact on southern Ontario becomes clearer.
