Londoners got their first taste of winter Thursday morning and more is still to come.
A snow squall warning is in effect for London, Parkhill and Eastern Middlesex Country.
Environment Canada is forecasting the squalls to start Thursday evening and intensify overnight.
“The lakes are warm and the wind is cold and the wind travelling against the full length of Lake Huron can really set up a nasty squall because it picks up a lot of that warm water and dumps it when it hits land,” said 980 CFPL’s weather specialist John Wilson.
Environment Canada is cautioning people to prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions.
It is predicting some areas could get between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow overnight.
Since 6 a.m., there have been 74 collisions across OPP West Region-policed areas. The number does not include collisions in communities policed by municipal police services.
Eleven of those collisions were in Middlesex County.
Meanwhile, division manager for London road operations John Parsons said the city was ready to go.
“We would send out our road salters on our main roads and bus routes and if we need additional plows then we have our city plows that can respond as well,” he said.
Cold weather came as a shock to some. Sandeepen Roy tells 980 waking up to the snow was a shock.
“I hope it doesn’t continue for long, I would like if some comes back at the end of December.”
For others, the first snowfall was a happy sight.
“I am always prepared for winter and if I could I would ice skate every day of the year, and I used to,” said Londoner Blair Miller.