Widespread snow, rain and brief spell of freezing targets Ontario

Saturday, February 1, 2014, 9:37 PM -

A wintry mix continues to blast parts of Ontario, bringing everything from heavy snow to rain to freezing rain to the region. 

The centre of a low pressure system is due to track through Windsor and Toronto Saturday evening and then continue eastward into Quebec.

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The heaviest snow will come ahead of the low and will move into Sarnia and Waterloo – Wellington regions during the morning hours. The low will spread east reaching Ottawa mid-afternoon. 

Environment Canada has issued snowfall warnings for areas stretching from Sarnia through Markham to Kingston, where more than 15 cm of snow could fall by Sunday. 

Current indications suggest that areas along and south of a line from Windsor through Hamilton towards Kingston will see snow changing to rain with a risk of freezing rain. In these areas, 5-10 cm of snow is expected to fall before changing back to snow Saturday night. However, EC says that any freezing rain that occurs should not last long.

"During the afternoon and evening, we will continue to see widespread snow across most of southern Ontario," explains Weather Network meteorologist Doug Gillham. "However, the snow will change to rain along the north shore of Lake Erie during the early to mid-afternoon with the transition to rain slowly advancing north towards the 401 by early evening. Across the GTA, most of the precipitation will fall as snow, but a change to rain is possible during the early evening close to Lake Ontario."

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Residents are urged to be extra cautious while getting around this weekend, as even in areas with temperatures above freezing, rainfall may still create icy surfaces as ground temperatures can still be below freezing. 

"Freezing rain is also possible, but this will be not a threat to trees and powerlines. The concern is that any rain that falls on untreated roads could become very icy as ground temperatures are so cold due to our recent cold weather," adds Gillham.

This system will push into Atlantic Canada on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, forecasters are keeping a close watch on the next major storm set to hit Ontario next week. 

Be sure to visit our Alerts page for watches and warnings.

With files from The Canadian Press