Winter Storm Warning Issued For Parts Of GTA Ahead Of Snowy Blast Arriving Later Today

Winter storm warnings are in place across most of southern Ontario, including parts of the GTA, as a system bringing strong wind and blowing snow barrels towards the city in time for the weekend.

Northern parts of Halton, Peel, York and Durham regions are currently under the storm warnings that expand across most of southern Ontario. The City of Toronto and the rest of the GTA are under a winter weather travel advisory.

Environment Canada forecasts the snow to begin Friday evening until Saturday morning with the weather agency warning of heavy snow accumulations of 10 to 25 cm and peak snowfall rates of 3 to 5 cm an hour in areas where the storm warning has been issued. The storm is also expected to bring strong wind gusts and blowing snow.

“Snow is forecast to begin late Friday afternoon and will quickly become heavy at times, before transitioning to periods of rain Friday night as temperatures rise above freezing,” Canada’s weather agency said.

“Strong southeasterly winds gusting up to 70 km/h will combine with this heavy snow to cause significantly reduced visibility at times. There is also a risk of a short period of freezing rain on Friday night.”

What to expect in Toronto

While Toronto has avoided the winter storm warning as of Friday morning, a travel advisory is in effect and CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor said the city should still brace for some accumulation from the incoming Texas low.

“I don’t think we’ll be as lucky with this one; we’ll be shovelling,” Taylor said. “This will be a very high-impact storm with some heavy, wet snow.”

The winter weather travel advisory is calling for 5 to 10 cm with strong wind and blowing snow resulting in reduced visibility. Motorists are being advised to avoid travel if possible.

The snow is expected to start falling in the city around 4 p.m. with the heavier snowfall peaking between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. The snow will change over to rain around midnight as temperatures rise to 5 C.

The rain could change back to snow on Saturday with another 2 to 4 cm possible as temperature fall back down to -2 C for the afternoon.

Toronto saw just over 5 cm of snow on Tuesday, but it was quickly followed by rising temperatures and more than 25 millimetres of rain during a wet, slushy storm that impacted the afternoon commute.

Many residents woke up to a few centimetres of snow on Thursday morning, but it quickly melted due to daytime temperatures hovering just above freezing.

The storm heading into the weekend will also come with a significant temperature drop that will stick around for much of next week. A high of -6 C is expected on Sunday, and the forecasted wind chill on late Sunday into Monday morning will be around -18.

The current conditions and extended forecast for Toronto can be found here.