Messy Start to the Last Week of 2020 for Southern Ontario; Up to 15cm of Snow and Freezing Rain Risk Late Sunday Into Monday

After a Christmas Day snowstorm and Boxing Day snow squalls brought over 50cm to parts of Southern Ontario, another system is on the horizon as we head into the final days of 2020. A quick burst of snow is expected to affect parts of Central, Southwestern and Northeastern Ontario beginning Sunday evening continuing overnight and into early Monday. There is also the risk of freezing rain overnight just to the north of the GTA through the Kitchener/Waterloo, Barrie, Kawartha Lakes and Bancroft area. Some light rain is expected for the rest of Southern Ontario where temperatures will be several degrees above the freezing mark.

The heaviest snowfall accumulation will be found to the northeast of Georgian Bay including Sudbury, North Bay and the northern part of Muskoka. Total accumulation in this area will range from 12-20cm and locally as much as 25cm (particularly around Sudbury and North Bay). Further to the south, the rest of Muskoka into the Bancroft area can expect between 6-12cm of snow with localized pockets near 15cm mainly just to the east of Georgian Bay where some models are picking up on lake enhancement potential.

There is also a zone through parts of Grey-Bruce counties that may see around 5-10cm of heavy wet snow although some data suggests it might be too warm and come down mainly as rain. Other areas including Orillia, Pembroke and Kitchener/Waterloo could see a few hours of wet snow accumulating to around 2-4cm before switching over to freezing rain or regular rain. The rest of Southern Ontario can expect trace amounts mainly during the day on Monday from scattered flurries as temperatures drop to near the freezing mark.

Between the snow and rain zone, there is also the threat of a few hours of freezing rain or drizzle from the Kitchener/Waterloo region through Simcoe County/Northern York Region and into Eastern Ontario including Peterborough, Bancroft and Renfrew. Freezing rain will develop late Sunday evening and continue overnight before switching over to snow later in the morning on Monday.

The rain will be fairly light and will be heavily dependent on if temperatures can stay below the freezing mark so not all areas within the forecasted zone will see it. Regardless, it could result in some icy road conditions along with a thin layer of ice build-up on untreated surfaces. You might want to leave some extra time in the morning to scrape off your car if you need to travel anywhere Monday morning.

Looking towards the end of 2020, we’re closely monitoring a potential storm that could affect Southern Ontario sometime between Thursday (Dec. 31) and Saturday (Jan. 2). There is a lot to still work out about the possible impacts of this storm and it very well could just be heavy rain, but some models show a fairly prolonged risk of freezing rain or even heavy accumulating snow. At this point, be prepared for a stormy start to the New Year and we’ll get you more details in the coming days as it becomes more clear.