Snow forecast for Simcoe County, winter weather travel advisory in effect

A winter weather travel advisory is in effect for Simcoe County, with flurries in the forecast this week.

The weather advisory is impacting Barrie, Collingwood, and Hillsdale.

Environment Canada says snowfall is expected to start Tuesday afternoon and continue for the rest of the week.

Steven Flisfeder, an Environment Canada warning preparedness metrologist, said that at around the time of the evening commute, people will start to see flurries that will last overnight.

“By the time the morning commute starts tomorrow morning, people might see some lingering flurries. But total accumulations should only be in the two to four centimetre range for pretty much the entire Simcoe County region,” he said.

The national weather agency said there is a potential for snowfall to reach 10 cm in some locations.

Flisfeder said the snow would taper off into Wednesday morning before a “lake effect snow pattern” develops overnight into Thursday that will continue into Friday.

“How strong those lake effect flurries will be is a little unclear right now. The pattern is pretty good to have localized higher amounts, but at this time, it’s difficult to know where exactly the higher amounts will be,” Flisfeder said.

Flisfeder said the intensity of the snow is expected to pick up Friday.

Throughout the week, he said the temperature in the region would stay around the freezing mark for daytime highs plus or minus a few degrees, which makes it hard to know how much snow will accumulate.

He said the temperatures would dip to around -5 C for overnight lows.

“What we’re seeing right now is this pattern of colder than normal temperatures are expected for the next approximately two weeks as we head into the beginning of December,” Flisfeder said.

“If you don’t yet have winter tires, make those appointments because snow is going to be consistently in the forecast in the coming weeks and as we head into December. With those lake effect snow squalls, most likely later this week, it’s good to pay extra attention on the roads while you’re driving.”