Ontario's Weather Forecast Is Predicting A Dangerous & Messy Ice Storm This Week

Ontario's weather forecast is predicting a nasty pattern to sweep across the Great Lakes Thursday into Friday, leaving residents to contend with snow, ice pellets and freezing rain.

According to The Weather Network (TWN), southern parts of the province will be hit by "multiple types of precipitation" into Friday, starting as a barrage of snow on Thursday morning before transitioning into a mix of freezing rain and ice pellets across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as the day progresses.

"While southwestern Ontario will quickly transition to rain, higher elevations of southern Ontario and away from the lakes could experience several hours of freezing rain through the morning and early afternoon," Kelly Sonnenburg, a TWN meteorologist, warned.

"Ice accretion should be minimal but enough to cause a thin glace and slick surfaces," Sonnenburg added.

Thursday afternoon will see southwestern Ontario soaked by 10 to 20 millimetres of rain while areas across the Bruce Peninsula and cottage country contend with heavy snowfall.

Eastern cities like Ottawa are forecasted to get between 5 and 10 centimetres. Although, total accumulations are proving challenging to estimate.

"North and eastern parts of the GTA along with eastern Ontario, including Ottawa, have some uncertainty in snowfall totals expected with this system," Sonnenburg said.

Some cottage country regions, including Kingston, could get over 15 centimetres on Thursday, with a chance for the snow swath to be nudged north and bury Ottawa as well.

Overall, residents, especially motorists, will want to prepare for hectic conditions later in the week.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.