Potential for 30 centimetres of snow in London by Wednesday: Environment Canada

The first snow squall of the season for London and region shows no sign of letting up, according to Environment Canada.

The weather agency issued an update to its earlier squall warning Tuesday, predicting as much as 30 centimetres of snow by Wednesday for the region if lake effect conditions persist.

“There is potential for some of these snow squalls to become stationary for several hours at a time this afternoon into Wednesday,” a statement from the agency said. “If this happens, local snowfall amounts of 30 cm or more are possible in the region, including the City of London.”

The weather is causing whiteout conditions in some areas, with winds gusting up to 70 km/h, with the potential to reduce or eliminate visibility.

How severe things get for London depends heavily on the wind, said Don Purchase, the City of London’s manager of roadside operations.

“We’re waiting to see what happens right now,” he said. “The streamer does appear to be kind of staying north of London, but, like a dog’s tail, it can move fairly quickly. If it does come back over the city, we will be back in again tonight with all of the city’s forces and the contractors as well.

“The salt trucks are still out there,” Purchase added. “We do have plows — they are patrolling their main streets and bus runs and addressing any areas that are drifted in. The winds are picking up, so we’re paying some attention to those issues that have a tendency to blow in.”

London school buses were operational Tuesday, but school transports for Oxford, Elgin, and Middlesex counties were cancelled. Some flights out of the London International Airport were also cancelled. The Ontario Provincial Police’s Huron County detachment advised drivers of “treacherous” conditions.

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Huron OPP closed the following roads Tuesday by 6:15 pm.

• Highway 21 from Blyth Road to Amberley
• Blyth Road (County #25) from Bluewater Veteran’s Highway to the village of Blyth (London Road)
• Huron Road (Highway 8) between Goderich and Seaforth
• London Road (County #4) from Blyth to Clinton

Overnight street parking in the City of London has been suspended “until further notice.”