A combination of system-type snow and lake effect snow will once again transform London into a winter wonderland, just as the first major snowfall of the season melted away.
Snowfall in November is not unusual in the London region, but experts say the reason for Monday’s accumulation and the resulting unseasonably cold temperatures are very rare this time of year.
Monday’s snowfall is the result of cold air from the north clashing with warmer air and moisture from the south. The result is a wide swath of consistent snowfall to start the work week, followed by the potentially record-breaking cold in the region overnight and on Tuesday.
“What is rare with this situation is it’s more of a system-type snow that’s moving through the London area and that often doesn’t happen this early in November. It’s also the nature of the air that’s around, we’re talking air that would be more normal in terms of daytime highs and overnight lows for January,” Global News meteorologist Ross Hull explained.
“It’s close to historic proportions in terms of the combination of the cold and the intensity of the snowfall.”
The system prompted a winter travel advisory from Environment Canada for much of southern Ontario with up to 15 cm possible in London before Tuesday morning.
The national weather agency also issued a snow squall watch for areas off of Lake Huron, including London and Middlesex County, in connection with lake effect snow expected Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday that could result in 10 to 15 cm of snowfall in 12 hours.
The conditions have Norfolk County OPP Const. Ed Sanchuk reminding all motorists to take extra precautions. While he didn’t have specific numbers, he said emergency services had been kept busy on Monday.
“We’re seeing collisions popping up — getting out of ditches, transport trucks, you name it, we’ve been involved with it,” he said.
“Winter weather conditions don’t cause people to get involved in crashes or collisions, bad driving habits do. So, please, just reduce your speed.”
Among the collisions was a crash involving an OPP cruiser that was actually en route to a crash in Brant County.
“When you take your focus off the road, you’re now putting all of us in danger. In this case, we had one of our cruisers struck by a motorist. However, the good news is minor damage and no injuries.”
As for the rest of the winter, meantime, Hull expects a bit of a reprieve in December with more seasonal and above seasonal temperatures before a cold and snowy January, February, and possibly even March.
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