Another muddled winter mix in store for Ontario, Quebec

Residents in southern Ontario and southern Quebec are in for more messy, mixed winter weather over the next few days as a storm system making its way north from Texas is expected to swing through the area from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday.

According to an Environment Canada Special Weather Statement from this morning, precipitation from this storm should start to fall as rain tomorrow afternoon, along a line from Sarnia to St. Catherines. The rain is expected to switch over to snow in the evening and then spread to the north and east during the night, reaching eastern Ontario by Wednesday morning and pushing into southern Quebec in the afternoon and evening.

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Up to 15 cm of snow is expected across southern and south-central Ontario from the system by Wednesday morning, and for eastern Ontario by Wednesday afternoon or evening, with higher amounts possible before the storm completely passes. However, as there is still some uncertainty with the exact track of the storm, these amounts could be lower if the storm tracks slightly further north, bringing more warm temperatures with it and keeping the precipitation a mix of rain and snow, or they could be higher if the storm tracks a bit further south, keeping southern Ontario temperatures below freezing and keeping the precipitation as all snow.

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No weather statements are in effect for southern Quebec as of today, as the system isn't expected to arrive there for at least another 48 hours. However, since there is far less uncertainty about the precipitation type for eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, residents should prepare themselves for the possibility of significant snowfall amounts on Wednesday and Thursday.

Environment Canada will issued updated weather statements and warnings as the storm approaches, which can be accessed from their website: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/warnings_e.html

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