Environment Canada issues snow squall watch for London-Middlesex

Environment Canada has downgraded a snow squall warning for London, Parkhill, and Middlesex County to a snow squall watch.

A snow squall warning was originally issued shortly before 11 a.m. Friday with squalls coming in off Lake Huron expected to pummel the region.

The amount of snow will depend on the direction of the wind, though forecasters believe the London area could receive between five and 15 centimetres.

“In terms of the city of London itself, it looks like the worst of the activity is going to be over the eastern portions of the city and farther east towards Woodstock,” said meteorologist Mark Schuster.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "In terms of the city of London itself, it looks like the worst of the activity is going to be over the eastern portions of the city and farther east towards Woodstock," said meteorologist Mark Schuster.

Blowing snow could be an issue at times, thanks to strong northwesterly winds.

Motorists are urged to be prepared for hazardous winter driving conditions due to sudden white-out conditions from bursts of heavy snow. Drivers should turn their lights on in the event of heavy snowfall, and maintain a safe following distance.

“Gusts up to 60, maybe quieting down a little bit to gusts up to 50 [km/h] or so tonight and through the day on Saturday,” said Schuster, “but if you get the heavy lake effect snow combined with those winds you can get significantly reduced visibility down to 100 metres or even less at times.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Gusts up to 60, maybe quieting down a little bit to gusts up to 50 [km/h] or so tonight and through the day on Saturday," said Schuster, "but if you get the heavy lake effect snow combined with those winds you can get significantly reduced visibility down to 100 metres or even less at times."

The system is expected to head north overnight but forecasters note it’s possible the snowsquall activity could come back south. Snow is expected throughout the weekend with temperatures forecast to stay below the freezing mark until at least Thursday.

Strong winds and blowing snow around lunchtime in the downtown core were a rude surprise for some London residents, who were expecting another mild day.

“I wore shoes with no socks. I had to borrow my boots and socks from someone else at work, because I had no idea this was coming,” explained Julie, who braved the cold with a coworker to get Tim Hortons for lunch.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I wore shoes with no socks. I had to borrow my boots and socks from someone else at work, because I had no idea this was coming," explained Julie, who braved the cold with a coworker to get Tim Hortons for lunch.

“It’s too crazy for this,” said Dalton, wishing he wore his winter coat. “I had it. I looked at it (…) but it was sunny out, so I was like ‘okay it can’t be too bad, it’ll get warmer’. I was wrong.”