Southern Ontario to be slammed with up to 80 cm of snow amid blizzard warnings

The Toronto area is presently shivering under deceptively sunny skies in some of its coldest weather of the season. However, parts of Southern Ontario are due for something worse than these minus double-digit windchills: a full-on blizzard, which will bring treacherous whiteout conditions, wind, and large amounts of snow from a strong cold front.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a slew of weather alerts for the province on Thursday, ranging from extreme cold warnings in Toronto to blowing snow advisories, snow squall warnings, and winter weather travel advisories further north.

Among these are blizzard warnings for areas along the eastern edge of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, which extend from Grand Bend in the south to Tobermory and Bracebridge in the north and inland to Barrie, the Kawartha Lakes, and even the north end of the GTA.

“Hazardous lake effect snow squalls are expected through Friday, with blizzard conditions easing this afternoon,” the ECCC wrote on Thursday afternoon.

It warns that parts of the aforementioned swath of the region will see “hazards including locally heavy snowfall with accumulations of 40 to 80 cm, westerly winds gusting to 80 km/h resulting in near zero visibility in blowing snow, peak snowfall rates of 5 to 10 cm per hour, and very poor visibility at times in heavy snow and local blowing snow.”

While Toronto proper is outside of the bounds of the winter storms, Bradford, Orangeville, and places just outside of the Aurora-Newmarket pocket of the GTA are in the red zone that is slated to see some of the worst of the squalls on Thursday and Friday, though the ECCC outlook is for a more reasonable 15-20 cm in these locales.

Meanwhile, cottage country spots like Gravenhurst and the rest of the snowbelt will be blanketed deep in the white stuff yet again after just having to declare a state of emergency over similar conditions last week.

ECCC’s warning for the Bradford area alongside a map of the parts of Southern Ontario due to be hit by blizzards, tons of accumulation and messy road conditions.

While Toronto is unlikely to see any snow actually sticking to the ground, ECCC Metereologist Trudy Kidd tells blogTO that the downtown core could indeed see some flakes.

“The main weather that we’re seeing right now is these snow squalls coming off of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. And when the winds are really strong like this, it can push snow a lot farther, so any flurries that the GTA gets would probably be like remnants of the snow squalls,” Kidd says.

But, she adds that the thing residents in and around Toronto should be most aware of is the potential for the situation to become drastically different within even short driving distances.

Kidd advises regularly checking forecasts where you are, but also where you’re headed if you’re travelling at all to avoid being taken off guard and caught in a dangerous squall. 

“Towards the GTA, there’s no snow and the roads are clear, but as you move towards the lakes, it looks like winter out there and the roads feel like winter out there. And with the strong winds, for any areas that have freshly fallen snow, it’s going to pick that up and make visibility horrible, near impossible,” Kidd says.

“That’s where people get into trouble, kind of being fooled by where they currently are. You could quickly find yourself in a snow squall where the snow is rapidly accumulating and falling down really heavy to the point that you might not see the road.”

Here’s what the next two months of winter weather could look like in Ontariohttps://t.co/t9qwHsRk3a

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 5, 2024

The Weather Network (TWN) wrote Thursday morning that road closures around Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and Lake Superior were possible, with bad driving conditions slated “on highways 10, 21, 26 and parts of the 400.” Roads in places like Perth County are confirmed to be closed as of this afternoon.

“Whiteout conditions are also expected along Highway 400 from north of Barrie to Parry Sound and Highway 11 into Bracebridge — many of the same areas that were previously hit with last week’s potent squalls and significant accumulations,” it added.

“Some bursts of snow could reach the northern Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and parts of the 401 into the afternoon.”