Spring ice storm underway in Ontario with major power, travel impacts
Two waves of wintry precipitation will bring significant icing to a swath of Ontario, threatening power outages and major travel issues throughout the weekend
Keep your devices charged and stay home if possible over the next couple of days as a long-duration ice event gets underway across a large portion of Ontario.
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Significant ice accretion from persistent freezing rain is expected from cottage country through eastern Ontario, while a narrow band of heavy snow will develop to the north. Power outages are likely. Over 90,000 customers are without power Saturday evening where we are seeing the bulk of the ice accretion.
The precipitation will arrive in two main rounds. Round one arrived Friday evening and will last into Saturday morning. Round two begins Saturday night and continues into Monday.
Be sure to check highway conditions and local weather alerts before heading out if necessary.
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Round 1 persists through Saturday morning
A sharp contrast between warm air to the south and cold air to the north will generate the whole spectrum of wintry weather across Ontario this weekend. Precipitation began pushing into Ontario through the latter half of Friday.
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ICE: Freezing rain developed east of Georgian Bay on Friday evening, covering communities north of Parry Sound to Barrie and Orillia, and then moved east toward Bancroft, Peterborough, and Kingston.
Ice accretion could reach 15-20+ mm (1.5-2+ cm) in the hardest-hit areas during this first round of freezing rain. Beware extremely slick steps, sidewalks, driveways, and roads during and after freezing rain. This much ice buildup could lead to tree damage and downed power lines, potentially leading to long-lasting power outages across the affected areas.
Environment and Climate Change Canada issued widespread freezing rain warnings across eastern Ontario and parts of southern Ontario on Saturday morning, including for the GTA.
Freezing drizzle risk through Saturday
The threat for icing won’t diminish once the first round of precipitation wanes on Saturday.
It’s possible that freezing drizzle and even some additional freezing rain could fall on Saturday across the same locations that saw freezing rain overnight, which can slowly add more ice onto what has already accumulated.
Our next round of significant precipitation will follow the freezing drizzle threat by Saturday night.
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Round 2 arrives Saturday night with a Colorado low
A Colorado low is expected to track into Ontario along the same boundary that brought the first wave of wintry precipitation to the region.
Luckily, the freezing line will eventually push north through the day on Sunday, allowing temperatures to rise and the threat for snow and ice to shift. As a result, the temperature divide won’t be as great on Sunday as we saw a day earlier.
SNOW: We’ll see snow develop farther north this time around, affecting northeastern Ontario and the Lake Superior shorelines. These areas could see 20-50 cm of additional accumulation through Monday. Heavy snow will likely shut down Highway 11 and Highway 17 near Lake Superior and Timmins on Sunday night and into Monday.
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ICE: As the warm front moves in, freezing rain is possible Sunday morning across parts of the GTA before temperatures warm in the afternoon. We could see 5-10 hours of freezing rain into Sunday morning, with 2-5 mm of ice accretion possible around Pearson Airport, Brampton, Vaughn, Markham, and Milton. There is less of a freezing rain risk in the western parts of the GTA.
Freezing rain is likely for the same areas that saw ice from the first round of precipitation—but it won’t last as long this time, and it’ll push farther north toward Ottawa, the Ottawa Valley, and into northeastern Ontario.
Another 5 mm of ice accretion is possible for areas that already saw freezing rain, with upwards of 2-5 mm of ice possible for the Ottawa area over approximately 15 hours. For areas that saw snow from the first round of precipitation, this will give the fresh snow an icy shell that will make shovelling even more difficult.
Beyond, temperatures could briefly soar into the teens during Sunday night and early Monday ahead of a strong cold front, which will bring much colder weather back to the region to start April.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on your forecast across Ontario.