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Cold winter weather returning to Ontario this week

Toronto’s winter skyline. Photo from Getty Images
Toronto’s winter skyline. Photo from Getty Images

January’s wintermission seems to be heading to a close as temperatures are expected to drop this coming week and continue throughout the next month.

While heavy snow won’t be coming to the Toronto area, there will be a light dusting in the GTHA and Niagara, according to AccuWeather forecasts. Light flurries are expected to start on Monday and will be combined with a serious drop in temperature.

“Tomorrow will probably be a bit chillier, probably below freezing, at least below 0 C and single digits for a high,” says Evan Duffey, a meteorologist at AccuWeather.

Wednesday will see a slight uptick in temperature, with temperatures rising to a high of 0 C, before a cold Arctic front drops the temperatures for good. The day is also forecast to see light snow, with around 2 cm for the Toronto area and 2-5 cm for the GTHA and Niagara in the afternoon. However, the snow is expected to be mild enough to not seriously delay evening commutes.

“Later in the week, it looks like finally the cold air gets into us,” he says. “Thursday night is -9 C, which isn’t extreme, but then the high on Friday is -7 C and we get to -13 C on Friday night.”

The reliability of the forecast is complicated though by a storm system on the eastern seaboard that’s pushing warm air up towards southern Ontario. If it stays along the coast, southern Ontario will only experience flurries towards the end of the week. But if it moves north and west, the southern parts of the Golden Horseshoe could see snow.

February is shaping up to a colder than usual month, according to Duffey. “It looks like we could be quite a few degrees below normal,” he says. “So once we get past this warm up midweek, we’re going to be looking awfully chilly.”