Blizzard Continues in Parts of Southern Ontario Through Christmas Eve With Up to an Additional 50cm of Snow
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NOTE: You can click on the map to open a zoomable image which will be easier to read.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
because they have been buried in the snow…
It certainly has been an eventful start to the holidays across Southern Ontario after a major winter storm brought much of the region to a standstill over the past 48 hours. From flash freeze and heavy snow to damaging wind gusts, we’ve seen everything from this storm that continues to hammer parts of the traditional snowbelt with crippling blizzard conditions. These conditions have resulted in many road closures in the hardest-hit areas and emergency officials are asking people to stay off the road.
We are now approaching the night before the big day and the snow squalls that have buried regions east of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay along with the Niagara and Kingston regions refuse to let up. The relentless snow squall activity will continue to lead to rapid snowfall accumulation for the areas that have already been hardest hit. Parts of Grey, Bruce, Huron and Perth counties east of Lake Huron in addition to Muskoka east of Georgian Bay have seen snow drifts approach 100cm. And as the snow squalls continue overnight into Christmas morning, we expect to see an additional 25-50cm of snow on top of what has already been received. Meaning that the final snowfall totals for this weekend could be well over 100cm in some areas!
Overnight we do expect to see somewhat of a break for regions to the northeast and east of the lakes with the snow squalls drifting southward by morning. This will bring the snow squall threat down into regions southeast of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay including northern Simcoe County and Kawartha Lakes. The lake effect snow off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario should shift south of the border after pummeling the Fort Erie and Prince Edward County regions. Squalls will continue throughout Sunday with this primarily northwesterly flow although they may drift back north towards the end of the day. It looks like the snow squalls will remain ongoing into Monday although the exact locations impacted is unclear.
NOTE: You can click on the map to open a zoomable image which will be easier to read.
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As we have seen so far with this storm, the snowfall accumulation will be intense but very localized so not everyone will experience the ‘crippling’ conditions. And some locations that have yet to see these conditions are expected to have conditions worsen later tonight so don’t let your guard down just yet!
The highest totals still to come will extend from the Bruce Peninsula through Southern Muskoka and Northern Simcoe County where we are looking at an additional 30-50cm of snow by the end of Monday. Some localized pockets may even exceed 50cm and come close to 75cm depending on where the squall sets up and how long it locks in place.
A more widespread region will pick up around an additional 20-40cm of snow which includes the rest of Muskoka, Kawartha Lakes and regions east of Lake Huron. The K/W region along with Barrie and Peterborough is right on the bubble and could go either way so we’ve gone with a 10-25cm range here due to the low confidence in how far inland these squalls will make it. The accumulation gradient will be quite tight so surrounding regions will see little in terms of snowfall ranging from 5-15cm.
NOTE: You can click on the map to open a zoomable image which will be easier to read.
The snow squall activity to the east through the Niagara and Kingston regions will be primarily a story for just this evening with bands shifting southward overnight. Regardless, we are expecting quite a heavy dumping of snow still ahead for Fort Erie and Prince Edward County seeing an additional 20-40cm (likely towards the lower end of this range). Port Colborne and Kingston will see around 10-25cm of more snowfall by the end of the weekend. And the surrounding locations including Welland, Belleville and Brockville will get 5-15cm of additional accumulation.
On behalf of the entire Instant Weather team, we would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend!
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