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Shot of wintry weather on tap for Prairies and Central Canada

The country tapped into some balmy April weather recently, but alas, it was not meant to last, as the rest of this week is going to feel like we got dragged back into early March.

A storm system sweeping in from the U.S. Midwest is already spreading rain throughout Ontario this morning and blasting southern regions with wind gusts up to 85 kilometres per hour. This is making garbage day particularly challenging in some parts of southwestern Ontario:

This afternoon is when things are expected to take a turn, though, as parting shot from the polar vortex mixes some frigid air into the storm, causing temperatures to plummet. With the rain combining with a dip towards freezing temperatures overnight, this is going to mean the potential for freezing rain across southern Ontario starting this evening, and even a few centimetres of ice pellet and snow throughout the morning on Tuesday.

Southern Quebec can expect a similar combination of wind, rain and snow, although everything will be spread out and delayed by a day. Rain and thunderstorms are likely today, with the rain persisting into Tuesday and expected to turn to snow as temperatures drop Tuesday night.

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Ontario and Quebec aren't the only regions of the country affected by this cold snap, of course. Saskatchewan and Manitoba were enjoying some nice warm weather just a week ago, but conditions gradually shifted back to chilly by the weekend as the frigid air dipped down from the north. The cold will persist and spread into Alberta as well, as the week progresses and this will mean some snow for those regions of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday. More snow is expected through northern Ontario as well.

The good news is that this too shall pass. Once this shot of cold and snow has moved through, it's looking like it will we'll all be back into the warm spring weather by the weekend. Hopefully, this is just winter's last dying gasp until much later this year.

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