A major winter storm is set to move into southern Ontario on Friday and Global News meteorologist Anthony Farnell says many areas may see more snow than initially expected.
“Our confidence is increasing on this being a major winter storm impacting a large swath of southern Ontario,” Farnell said.
“Our snow forecast has also gone up with some areas now expected to receive up to 35 cm of snow.”
Much of southern Ontario is under some sort of weather warning from Environment Canada. Some areas north of Peterborough and Kingston are under snowfall warnings.
Further south, winter storm warnings are in place, stretching from Peterborough and Kingston, to the Toronto area, Hamilton, and south to London.
Winter weather travel advisories are in place for places closer to Lake Erie and the Windsor, where more mixed precipitation is expected.
“The snow and wind will combine to create near blizzard conditions late this evening with snowfall rates that could exceed 5 cm per hour,” Farnell said.
“Thunder and lightning in the snow is also very likely later on Friday night.”
The system will move into the region in the afternoon or early evening, depending on the location, with the last of the snow moving out by Saturday morning.
Farnell said the storm will likely be the biggest for the Greater Toronto Area since January 2022, when 50 cm fell.