Canada’s weather agency says heavy rain and strong winds are expected for much of the Hamilton area and Niagara Region on Thursday.
Environment Canada’s special weather statement is alerting residents of between 15 and 25 millimetres of precipitation, likely to start early Thursday and continue throughout out the day.
Southwest winds are also anticipated later in the day to reach speeds of 70 to 90 km/h.
Environment Canada steps up it’s alert for Niagara Region to a wind warning with the strongest gusts expected to reach between 90 to 100 km/h for areas downwind of Lake Erie.
“Rain will begin over extreme southwestern Ontario early Thursday morning and advance northeastward through the day,” Environment Canada said in a release.
“A brief period of freezing rain is possible Thursday morning for areas inland from the Great Lakes.”
The rain is expected to taper to showers by Thursday evening while winds are expected to start in the afternoon.
“High winds may toss loose objects or cause tree branches to break,” according to Environment Canada.
“Isolated utility outages are possible.”