Blustery Easter Sunday, wet flurries for southern Ontario
theweathernetwork.com
Sunday, April 1, 2018, 10:47 AM - Some Ontario residents will be hunting for Easter eggs in the snow Sunday morning as a quick-moving system has dropped up to 10 cm of fresh snow on parts of the province.
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This quick-moving system finished clipping through southern Ontario before sunrise on Sunday, but not after dropping a fresh Easter snowfall on parts of northeastern and central Ontario. While forecasters were initially concerned about the risk of snow for the GTA and the southwest, it seems like most of this system's moisture will be used up by the time the cold front cuts through the Lower Great Lakes, meaning the risk for snow is (perhaps fortunately) pretty low for most of southern Ontario, though with a chance of wet flurries through the overnight.
WATCH BELOW: When to expect peak winds
The strong, brisk winds will be felt more widely across the region, however. They largely peaked overnight, but much of Sunday will still be gusty as the system retreats.
Those lingering, gusty northwest winds will be favourable for lake-effect snow behind this system, with the potential for streamers from Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. Fortunately, the colder, drier air and generally cooler early spring temperature of the lakes looks to keep the potential for long-lived lake-effect snows low; most model guidance suggests the risk diminishes through Sunday afternoon as winds shift subtly to be more directly out of the west.
WATCH BELOW: Where to expect lake-effect snow
April chill will be with us for more than just the first, as the larger-scale atmospheric pattern is sluggish to let go of winter.
"The pattern will likely relax somewhat after April 10th, but colder-than-normal temperatures could linger into mid-April," says Weather Network meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham. "We expect that a warm pattern will develop for May, but the timing for the pattern change is still uncertain. At this point we think that the second half of April will bring the typical back and forth swings in temperature that we should expect during spring without being too extreme on the warm or cold side. More consistent warmth will likely hold off until May."
The April snow threat probably won't catch too many long-term Ontario residents off guard as April's average snowfall for Toronto is around 5 cm, while Thunder Bay sees about 10 cm.
Check for up-to-date detailed analysis on the weather in the Golden Horseshoe, here
