Snow to disrupt your morning commute across southern Ontario
A cold, snowy Monday morning means a tricky and slow commute across southern Ontario
Prepare for a messy morning commute across southern Ontario on Monday as a slug of snow moves across the region.
Snow will arrive in the pre-dawn hours and peak just as the morning commute gets underway, laying down a blanket of snow across much of the region. The Greater Toronto Area is under a Yellow Warning - Snowfall ahead of this system’s arrival.
Plan ahead and keep an eye on highway conditions before hitting the road Monday morning.
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Snow to disrupt your Monday morning commute
A snowy clipper moving across the Great Lakes will leave behind a relatively narrow blanket of snow as it passes through southern Ontario on Monday morning.
Periods of snow will begin through the pre-dawn hours Monday west of the Niagara escarpment, spreading west to east through the early morning hours.
Snowfall rates are forecast to exceed 1 cm per hour across the GTA by 6:00 a.m., which is ill-timed for a slow and treacherous commute.
Peak snowfall rates of 1-2 cm per hour are in the forecast between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. across most of the northern GTA and regions north of Lake Ontario.
Most communities are on track to see 5-10 cm of snow from this system, but a few localized spots may see up to 15 cm of accumulation.
Snowfall will ease by Monday afternoon as the system slides eastward, with some light snow lingering across portions of eastern Ontario.
Only light flurries will remain across the area by Monday evening.
Expect impacts on area highways
Motorists can expect significantly slower commute times. Give yourself ample time to prepare for slowdowns as drivers navigate the accumulating snowfall.
Expect active plowing across the main highways as the snowfall event unfolds, causing delays.
Winds will generally remain below 20-30 km/h, so that means limited, blowing snow, although visibility will be reduced under the heaviest snow bands.
WATCH: Poorly-timed snowfall will hit GTA's morning commute
January thaw brings messy system
Looking ahead, a Colorado low arriving Tuesday will bring our next bout of messy weather. The system will drag much milder air across the region, but the cold air is forecast to put up a fight.
We’ll see a wintry mix develop by late Tuesday morning, spreading in from southwestern Ontario. This warm front will tend to produce freezing rain inland, across similar locations northwest of the GTA that dealt with the system over Boxing Day weekend.
The warm air will likely fail to fully push across eastern Ontario, so precipitation north of the wintry mix is forecast to remain primarily as snowfall.
Additional snowfall totals of 5-15 cm are forecast north of the GTA and extending into eastern Ontario, including for cottage country. The highest amounts are expected north of Highway 7 toward Ottawa, while totals across cottage country and Georgian Bay could exceed 10 cm as well.
Combining both systems, some regions are looking at more than 20 cm of additional snowfall over the next few days, particularly in areas with the highest existing snowpack.
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