Storm risk for many this weekend

Saturday, August 2, 2014, 11:48 AM -

Parts of Ontario saw some very strong storms on Friday night, and Saturday could see a repeat performance.

Severe thunderstorm watches were issued for most of southwestern Ontario, including the entire Greater Toronto Area Saturday.

That's after Friday's storms rolled through southwestern Ontario and sparked severe thunderstorm warnings for the region.

Those storms, buoyed by the day's heat and humidity, were active and looked ominous as they moved through the region's communities.

Aside from frequent lightning, the storms also produced torrential downpours and quite a bit of pea-to-marble-sized hail in several communities.

"This is an interesting case which shows huge variations of rainfall amounts across the regions," Environment Canada said early Saturday morning in a statement. "While areas near Lake Erie and Georgian Bay escaped with no no rain at all, many locales extending near Sarnia across the Waterloo region to northern parts of the Greater Toronto Area were soaked with 10 to 25 mm of rain, according to weather radar estimated."

As for what's ahead, an upper low still remains over Ontario, heading slowly eastward.

"Today, lake breeze convergence may allow for some severe thunderstorms to develop in the Golden Horseshoe," Weather Network meteorologist Monica Vaswani said Saturday. "If storms develop along the boundary, heavy rainfall could be a concern, and thus localized flooding."

TUNE IN: Watch the Weather Network on TV for updates on these storms. If it's safe to do so, upload your pictures and videos here.

Vaswani says Sunday could be the nicest day of the long weekend in southern Ontario, boasting motly fair conditions, although there will be a slight risk of thunderstorms or showers.

It's northwestern Ontario where we should look for a glimpse at what the holiday Monday could be like. A cold front sliding through that region will bring thunderstorms through the day Saturday.

On Sunday, that front will slide into the Nickel Belt, bringing more storms along with it, and by Monday, it will track into cottage country and eventually southern Ontario, bringing showers and possible thunderstorms.

Vaswani says the timing of the front is still uncertain.

DON'T MISS: The Burlington Skyway will be closed for the weekend. Check the pictures below and read about how people determine structural integrity.