Another day of warm temperatures and an afternoon of rain in the forecast has prompted a flood watch bulletin from the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority.
The conservation area covers the region from the east side of St. Thomas to Bayham Township and up into part of southwest Oxford, down to Port Bruce.
“Water levels are rising which are breaking up the ice and started moving the ice downstream. There are some ice jams along the way,” said Peter Dragunas, water management technician with Catfish Creek Conservation Authority.
“The high water hasn’t reached the hamlet of Port Bruce yet, which is our critical area, but it’s on its way.”
Dragunas added that people tend to underestimate how dangerous the waterways can be.
“There’s a lot of people that walk their pets along riverbanks and it may not look like it’s dangerous but the water’s moving really fast and the ice is really quite dangerous this time of year. It’s slippery and you can slide into the creeks or rivers,” he explained.
“Residents have to prepare so that they can stow away some of the things that maybe have been left out from the summer season in your yards.”
The flood watch is expected to last through Wednesday.
The temperature in London peaked at 9.9 C at around 2 o’clock Monday, matching a high temperature record for February 4 set back in 1991. While snow is melting and rain is in the forecast, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority is expecting minor runoff but no flooding.
Flooding may not be a concern in London-Middlesex, but freezing rain is a different matter.
Environment Canada issued special weather statements Monday afternoon for London-Middlesex, Elgin, Sarnia-Lambton, and Windsor-Essex-Chatham-Kent.
The national weather agency notes that an area of freezing rain is expected to move over the region Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and it’s possible for freezing rain to last several hours.
The Wednesday morning commute could be a chaotic one depending on how the system plays out. Special weather statements could be replaced with freezing rain watches or warnings as the system draws nearer.