Winter slowly relaxes its icy grip on southern Ontario for this weekend ahead
A slow warm-up is finally on the way to Ontario this weekend
The upcoming weekend will feature the weather that many of us were hoping for during the Family Day long weekend -- when we ended up getting snowed in instead.
Travel conditions will be much safer this weekend, and winter will slowly relax its icy grip across the region.
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No major travel concerns on Friday
We will kick off the weekend with a mixture of sun and clouds on Friday. Scattered flurries and some blowing snow are likely across the snowbelts southeast of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, but weather will not have a major impact on travel conditions if you are headed to ski country or cottage country this weekend.
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Friday night will be partly cloudy and very cold.
Still feeling like winter, with snow flurries on Saturday
Saturday will be cloudy with sunny breaks across most of southern Ontario. However, flurries are likely to the east of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, with localized accumulations of up to 5 cm of fluffy snow.
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While temperatures won’t be as frigid as what we saw earlier this week, it will still feel like mid-winter with a noticeable wind chill due to a gusty southwest wind.
Flurries are likely Saturday night and temperatures won’t be quite as cold.
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Feeling more comfortable by Sunday
Sunday will be noticeably more comfortable outside.
While our high temperatures will still be several degrees below seasonal, it will be "warmer" than we have seen during the past week, and there will be less wind. Flurries are expected during the afternoon and evening with a dusting to 2 cm expected.
Finally climbing out of the deep freeze by next week
As we look ahead to next week, a couple of clippers will track across our region during the first half of next week with a few periods of wet snow. However, snow amounts will not be substantial and the snow could mix with rain for areas near and south of the 401.
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Most importantly, we will finally climb out of the deep freeze, at least for a few days.
High temperatures should climb to near freezing or above freezing each day through Wednesday or Thursday.
However, while winter will relax its grip on our region next week, it is not over just yet. It looks early March will bring a return to mid winter conditions once again with colder than normal temperatures and the potential for more snow.